Teana's Travels Book 14: Heart of Worlds
by D.K.N
Summary: Teana and company travel to Aqua's home realm, seeking the counsel of Master Yen-Sid. While there, they encounter their mysterious foe on a greater level than ever before. And shocking secrets are finally revealed... Rated T for violence and language; might up to 'M' later
1. Settling In

And now we arrive in the _Kingdom Hearts _universe. Expect big things to happen in this Book – revelations, new additions, the works! Read and enjoy!

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle! _(Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo _(Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

_StarCraft _(multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto _(jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu

_Kingdom Hearts _(Keyblades, the concept of Nobodies (Laicixa), Aqua, other characters and concepts and things in this book) – Square-Enix

_Neon Genesis Evangelion_ (Mana Kirishima, other characters) – Studio Gainax

_Elfen Lied _(Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

_Red vs. Blue _(The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-****_BOOK 14 START_****-**

**Mysterious Tower – 10:00 PM**

Master Yen-Sid sat at his desk, going over one of his old tomes before bed. Sora and Riku were due here tomorrow to receive their assignments; he would be sending them to the Realm of Sleep, for their Mark of Mastery exams. He'd already finished the essential preparations, so now he was just killing time. The old man sighed as he came across an old picture used as a forgotten bookmark: Eraqus and Xehanort as young men, fresh from achieving their Marks of Mastery. He closed his eyes and hung his head; such promise, and yet look how things had turned out.

He was interrupted from his musings by one of the devices on his desk chiming and blinking. It was a magical artifact that allowed secure communication between Keyblade-Wielders, across interstellar and inter-realm distances. Had Mickey encountered a snag, or any new intel on Xehanort? He keyed in a sequence of runes on the hand-sized device, and a holographic screen popped up. However, rather than showing his most recent student, the screen showed a man who looked to be in his 50s, with crew-cut black hair (with a hint of grey), wearing a military uniform.

"_Greetings, and sorry for disturbing you, Master Yen-Sid_" the man said. "_I am Colonel Urban Holland, and I represent a multi-dimensional coalition of various space-faring civilizations, with many magic-users among our ranks. We have been fighting a mysterious dark enemy, and we seek your wisdom on certain affairs._"

"What exactly makes you think I can help you, Colonel?" the wizened old wizard asked.

"_Amongst our mages are five Keyblade Wielders, and our enemy has recently begun fielding Heartless and Unversed; also, one of our enemy's highest-ranking individuals is an evil Keyblade Wielder._"

Yen-Sid's eyes widened. "I see. Well, that certainly warrants my attention. But how did you know about me?"

"_Two ways, sir. The first is that, in the various realms we've been to, there have been cases where one realm's events have possessed fictional counterparts in other realms; a precious few of our personnel have seen such media in their home realms, centering around the boy named Sora._"

Yen-Sid couldn't help but smile a little. "So that boy is a known hero even in realms where he does not exist…"

"_And the other source is… Well, after the first of our Keyblade-Wielders awakened her weapon, an elite team of mages traveled into the Realm of Darkness. There, they rescued three individuals, two of which wield Keyblades. And one of those…_"

He stepped aside… and Yen-Sid's jaw dropped open just a little bit as someone who was supposed to be dead stepped into view.

"_Hello, Master Yen-Sid_" Aqua said, bowing. "_It's good to see you again._"

"Aqua…" he murmured. "So when you defeated Xehanort, you fell into the Darkness rather than being killed. And you survived 11 years in that terrible realm?"

"_Not alone, Master, but yes. I befriended the other two dimensional refugees, and a couple of months ago the others came to that Realm and found us._" She smiled. "_I lead a special-ops team now. …Other than me, there are four other Keyblade Wielders in the coalition. Three are young – one 9, one 11, and one 12 – and I have taken them as students; the fourth is my age, that is if you discount the 11 years I spend in the Realm of Darkness, where people don't age, but she already had considerable swordsmanship experience before awakening her Keyblade, so she didn't require as much tutoring._"

She took a deep breath.

"_We'd like your input on the matters we're presently involved in. …That, and I'd like to see Mickey again, and maybe see if Sora and Riku remember me from when they were four._"

"Well, I have called Sora and Riku to be brought here to be given the details of their Mark of Mastery exams. And King Mickey is escorting them here. How soon will you be here?"

Aqua turned to someone off-screen, talking for a few seconds. She turned back to Yen-Sid. "_About 10 hours, Master_" she replied.

"I await your arrival then, my dear. See you then."

Conversation continued for a few more minutes between Col. Holland and the old Keyblade Master. As the link was terminated, Master Yen-Sid sat back in his chair. Things had just become much more interesting.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Mysterious Tower – Next Morning**

Master Yen-Sid stood outside his tower, alongside Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (and of course, Jiminy). Any minute now, their mysterious dimensional traveler visitors would arrive; Yen-Sid had already told the others about them, and they were excited to meet the newcomers.

There was a flash of blue up above in the sky, as a massive construct – grey and silver with glowing blue portions – appeared from an inter-realm rift.

"Whoa…" Sora said as he stared up at the massive ship. "It's _huge_!"

"1600 meters from bow to stern" Yen-Sid replied. "That's about 5,250 feet, in case you don't know Metric. The _Starshot_, a warship left behind by an advanced ancient race over 100,000 years ago, kept in pristine condition by the automated systems in the subspace pocket realm that a particularly precognitive member of its constructor race placed it in. …Supposedly this coalition has ships many times larger than this one, including one class of ship that is around six-and-a-half times the length."

Before long, a few objects could be seen flying down from the ship, heading toward the rather hard-to-miss landmark that was Yen-Sid's Tower. A pair of Sangheili Alliance Type-52 'Phantom' dropships, their green and purple armor plating shining in the morning sun, hovered over the area, slowly descending. They took position about 25 feet off the ground, and the gravity lifts on their undersides came to life. A significant number of people descended from the two craft – Col. Holland, Shipmaster Arum, Erohn Kilkar, Kanba Kanade, Gamma Team, Sigma Team, Theta Team, and the TSAB Group (Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, the Wolkenritter, and Precia).

"Aqua!" King Mickey shouted joyously. "It's true! You're alive!"

"Your Majesty" Aqua smiled in reply. "It's good to see you again."

Then she turned her attention to Sora and Riku, remembering seeing & hearing what they'd done thanks to Marie, Fate, and Chisame.

"My, you two have certainly grown since I last saw you. Do you remember me?"

"Vaguely" Riku replied. "Though Master Yen-Sid told us about you, Terra, and Ventus – how Master Xehanort's plot destroyed your lives; Xehanort killed your Master Eraqus, stole Terra's body, cast you into the Realm of Darkness, and… did _something_ to Ventus…"

Aqua's expression changed just a little, and her eyes drifted to Sora. 'So even Master Yen-Sid doesn't really know…' she thought.

"Is it really true that we have fictional counterparts in your worlds?" Sora asked.

"Only a few of them" Aqua replied. "Apparently, the series is called '_Kingdom Hearts_', and it's fairly popular in the worlds it exists in. Marie and Fate are the only ones here right now who've played it, though."

The short green-eyed brunette and the tall red-eyed blonde waved hello.

"So…" Master Yen-Sid said. "Who are our four other Keybladers?"

In response, Laicixa, Fate, Kanba, and Erika stepped forward, each of them summoning their Keyblades. Goofy looked back & forth between Fate and Laicixa.

"Gawrsh, I'm bettin' you two're sisters, right?" he asked.

"Yes" Fate replied.

"I believe I should point out something, Master" Aqua said to Yen-Sid. "It seems your 'Nobodies are all Heartless and emotionless' hypothesis is wrong."

"Oh?" the old man said. "What makes you say that?"

"Because Laicixa there is a Nobody, and yet we have proven that she possesses a full Heart of her own."

Yen-Sid walked up to Laicixa, closing his eyes as he extended his magical senses. "She's right" he said with slight astonishment. "I can sense the sudden life-force signature of a Nobody, yet you plainly have a true, full Heart of your own."

"I didn't at first" the young girl replied. "When I first came into being, I was without a Heart. However, my original – Fate's sister Alicia – had strong Light in her Heart, and a portion of her personality – especially her altruism – was 'copy-pasted' to me, as was her latent ability to manifest a Keyblade, which I eventually awakened. I soon afterward met Mother and Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, and my time spent with them, connecting to their Hearts, allowed me to spontaneously form a Heart of my own. Apparently, the same will happen for any sapient-form Nobody that is able to forge connections with the Hearts of others; Roxas and Axel both developed Hearts during their existences. …Do know, however, that the Lesser Nobodies, the shifting white beings with no true mind, are forever without Hearts; they lack the intelligence to forge bonds with others."

"Of course," Sora said, "that's leaving out what Master Yen-Sid told us recently, about how if a person becomes a Heartless and becomes a Nobody, and then both are destroyed, the original whole person comes back to life. That's why he has us taking our Mark of Mastery exams, in the hope that we'll be ready by the time Xehanort surfaces."

"Correct. …We do not know the fate of my original's Heart. However, I do not believe her Heart has become a Heartless; I have a feeling we'd know. So no destroying it and me to bring her back."

"And even if that _would _work," Precia added, walking up behind Laixica and placing hands on her shoulders, "we would find another way. I _will not _sacrifice one of my daughters to save another of them; I could never make such a terrible choice."

"Shall we head inside?" Master Yen-Sid said. "We should have a seat as we discuss further matters."

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Yen-Sid's Tower – Common Room**

**70 Minutes Later**

The myriad of guests sat together in the magically-enlarged room, seated on supernaturally-comfortable cushy chairs and couches. Everyone had introduced themselves already; the existence of so many more realms than he'd previously assumed left Sora amazed. The kids of Theta Team sat close together on one of the couches; nobody had said anything bad upon learning of Erika & Mariko's 'little problem', but they still sat in ways to attempt to hide what was under their skirts.

The group gave descriptions of their encounters with their mysterious dark/demonic foe; the precious little knowledge of the mysterious black-cloaked evil Keyblade dual-Wielder who called herself Ruin, the basics of the enemy's types of soldier; the encounter with Heartless and Unversed under the enemy's command; and the recent battle against a possessed avatar of the unknown leader of this dark threat.

"So…" Sora said. "You guys haven't even figured out what these guys want, or even what they are?"

"That's about the size of it" Teana replied wearily.

"And then there's other enemies to worry about" Col. Holland said. "Pirates, Mengsk's Dominion, the Zerg, remnants of Parangosky's projects, the Covenant Remnant is still hiding somewhere out there, and when we were on our way here we received word that a Sangheili rebel extremist named Parg Vol recently broke from the Sangheili Alliance with a cadre of loyal followers and left the system, stealing several Alliance warships in the process. We certainly have our hands full."

"We will help however we can" Master Yen-Sid said. "Though I fear we can presently offer little more than training and advice; Xehanort must be our present main focus, I'm afraid."

"We understand" Shipmaster Arum replied. "We will gladly accept whatever help you can offer us."

"We're probably going to set up base camp at Radiant Garden" Marie said. "It's sort of a 'Hub World' in this realm-plane, from what we can tell."

"Very well" the old mage said. "I will keep in contact with you while Sora and Riku are away in the Realm of Sleep."

They stayed a little while longer, before the coalition forces had to head out, while Sora & Rika made final preparations for their Mark of Mastery exams. Soon, the _Starshot _could be seen exiting this realm.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Radiant Garden – 80 Minutes Later**

"Wow~" Erika said, looking all around. "T-This place is beautiful!"

"There's a reason that call it _Radiant _Garden, kiddo" Marie replied.

"We don't wanna ruin the aesthetics of this place…" Col. Holland said. "We should just set up a teleportation array between a certain spot and the ship. And we should make it a Sangheili design; they're good at making things that are both pretty _and _functional."

"Hee~ey~!" a girl's voice called out. "So you guys are the newcomers Yen-Sid called us about, huh?"

The presently-groundside group looked to see a young woman with short black hair and revealing clothes running up, a _fūma shuriken _strapped to her back. Following in her wake were a man wearing black leather with brown hair and what looked like a sword with a gun for a hilt, a young man in black with spiky blond hair and a huge sword slung across his back, a girl in a pink dress with long brown hair, an older man with spiked-up brown hair and a toothpick in his mouth, and an old man wearing blue robes and a pointy blue hat.

"I'm Yuffie!" the young kunoichi introduced herself. "_Chūnin _of the Kisaragi Clan!"

"Name's Leon" the man in black said.

"I'm Cloud" the guy with the big sword introduced.

"I am Aerith" the girl in pink said.

"Name's Cid" the older man said.

"And I am Merlin" the old man said. "Oh, I can sense such powerful magic amongst most of you, as well as something I can't quite put my finger on. Hmm… _Ki _manipulation?"

"Yes" Teana replied. "A lot of us use both magic and chakra, which is also known as _ki_. …How much did Master Yen-Sid fill you guys in on?"

"Enough" Leon replied. "We have our sentries on the lookout for any Heartless, Unversed, and any of those 'Demon' things you guys've run into."

"So…" Cloud said. "I hear a few of you are swordsmen. Leon and I were thinking… Would any of you like to spar?"

Teana and Ahsoka looked to each other and grinned.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Radiant Garden – Local Park**

**45 Minutes Later**

Timmy Randall sat on a bench, munching on a sandwich he'd made for himself earlier. The others were off doing their own thing. He leaned back, looking up at the pretty sky… and his vision was suddenly filled with a fair-skinned face with long brown hair and pretty eyes, looking down at him upside-down.

"Enjoying your stay?" Aerith asked with a light giggle.

"Y-Yeah" the boy replied, his deep-green eyes following the young woman as she sat next to him on the bench. "This place is beautiful."

"Your little girlfriends Erika and Mariko have said the same thing. At length. …They're so cute. You're lucky to have them."

"Yeah…" he said wistfully, a smile on his face. "I really am… I love those two so much."

"And they love you. I can tell. And it's a good thing they love each other just as much, so they don't fight over you." She grinned mischievously. "Though I bet you'd kinda like seeing that – two pretty and cute girls tussling with each other, their clothes being gradually torn away in front of you…"

"Actually, I…" Timmy blushed. "I've seen them naked. We've bathed together a lot. And I've changed Erika's diaper quite a few times, and Mariko's a handful of times too. And they've seen me naked too; as I said, we bathe together usually. We're pretty comfortable with each other, and with Erio & Caro, to the point where Erika & Mariko will let those two change them if necessary. It's one of the reasons we're on a team together. It didn't take long after Laicixa was made team leader for her to reach that level of comfort and familiarity with us, too. She's changed Erika a couple times, and I've… c-caught her staring at my butt a few times when we're all in the baths… and at Erio's… and at Caro's once."

Aerith giggled as she petted him on the head, stroking his soft black hair. "You're all really cute together, and you make each other happy. I think that's wonderful. And little Erika actually managed to manifest her Keyblade out of her desire to protect you? I'd call that solid proof of how much she loves you."

The boy blushed, though his smile widened. "Yeah…"

"Timmy~!"

The boy turned just in time for Mariko to run up to him with a light tackle-hug. She giggled as he hoisted her into his lap with a faint rustle/crinkle, and she straddled his lap facing him. She planted a quick kiss on his lips, and then snuggled up against him, arms around him. Aerith's smile widened at the cuteness, especially when Timmy returned the embrace, and she gave a content sigh.

"Where're the others?" Timmy asked.

"Erika an' Caro are at the local arcade," Mariko replied, "tryin' to win some cute plushies at the Crane Game. Laicixa and Erio are sparring, showin' their stuff to Cloud and Leon. And I'm right here, in a huggle-snuggle with you."

"I love having two cuddle-bugs for girlfriends" the boy sighed out happily. Mariko made a happy little giggle in response.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**_Starshot _****Slipspace Translocation Terminal Room**

**Same Day – 7:30 PM**

The slipspace portal oscillated slightly as _Ala Alba _stepped through, closing behind them for the moment.

"So we're actually in the _Kingdom Hearts _universe now…" Chisame said. "Awesome!"

"This should be fun" Chizuru added.

Negi, Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna immediately made a beeline for Ahsoka, forming a five-person group hug with her at the center. The group's tall kunoichi, meanwhile, made a path for a certain hot-pink-haired girl.

"At last we meet, fellow Kaede" Nagase said with a joking grin on her face.

"As if it weren't hard enough to get used to with Fuyō" Kanade replied, her own smile betraying the fact that it didn't bother that much.

"We should have a get-together" Fuyō said as she walked up. "Maybe have dinner together or something."

"Good idea!" Nagase replied. "Kaede, you find us a place to eat. Kaede, you help Kaede. While I, Kaede, shall fetch the entertainment!"

"Yes, Kaede!" the other two chorused, giggling.

As the three went off to do their own thing, the others of _Ala Alba _were settling in.

"Thanks for coming by, you guys" Teana said. "I have a feeling we might need your help."

"We would've been here an hour ago," Konoka replied, "but… well, Chisame-chan wanted 'one for the road' with Negi just in case we didn't have any time for that kinda stuff here."

"I c-can't help it if I have a healthy adolescent sex drive" the glasses girl replied, blushing and looking a bit peeved.

Haruna grinned and rolled her eyes. 'Healthy adolescent sex drive', her perfectly-shaped ass! Chisame had the highest libido out of any of Negi's girls, and compared to Ayaka, Nodoka, and Setsuna, that was saying something. Fortunately, the cute little grump swung both ways, and thus Chizuru, Kazumi, and Haruna herself could keep Chisame 'satisfied' if Negi was too busy.

"It seems all quiet on the western front right now" Asuna remarked.

"That _never _lasts long" Shion replied. "You guys had better be prepared to jump into a scrap at a moment's notice."

"With the kind of stuff that happens to us?" Yue replied. "We're _always _prepared for an out-of-nowhere fight."

"Let's just hope things don't go pear-shaped _too _soon" Teana said. "I'd actually like to relax for a bit."

"Hey, Marie" Sarah said.

"Yeah, sis?"

"Shouldn't we keep practicing our new combo move?"

"Oh, yeah! We should! And there's plenty of empty badlands outside the city where we can do it too, even! Let's go!"

As the sisters ran off, Teana startled as she felt a warm body wrap itself around her from behind.

"Tonight" Subaru whispered in her ear. "You, me, and Fuyō."

Teana blushed and smiled. "'Kay" she replied.

**-****_CHAPTER END_****-**

And thus we begin the first chapter of a Book that will reveal more than one Big Secret. Stay tuned!


	2. Test

Another short chapter; sorry. But I've at least tried to give quality to make up for lack of quantity.

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Radiant Garden – Three Days After Arrival**

Things were pretty much uneventful for the first few days. Training, scouting, R&R… Overall, they were what most soldiers would call "lazy days". The three Kaedes continued to bond, Sarah & Marie continued practicing their in-development combination attack which they refused to share any info on with the others ("It's a surprise!"), and the kids continued to be cute just by existing and being themselves. Yen-Sid reported that Sora & Riku's Mark of Mastery exam was underway, the two boys away in the Realm of Sleep. Little did Sora know that shadowy forces were at work around him…

But Sora & Riku's ordeal is (apparently) not (yet) connected to the coalition's events. At the moment, Kanba, Laicixa, and Erika sat on a park bench, finishing up some ice cream (despite Marie's and Yuffie's suggestions, none of them were brave enough to try the local hit flavor "Sea Salt Ice Cream", instead sticking with chocolate for now). Laicixa casually reached a finger up and wiped away a bit of chocolate from Erika's upper lip, then stuck the finger in her own mouth and licked it clean.

"Well, aren't you three just too cute?"

The trio startled slightly at the voice from nowhere. They got to their feet, their energies being called up within them, as they looked around. Nobody was around besides the three of them right now, so where…?

"So you three brats are some of the new Keybladers in town, huh?" the disembodied male voice said. "Boy, they just keep gettin' younger…"

"Where are you?" Kanba asked, his vectors out, a scowl on his face. "Show yourself!"

In response, there was a cloud of fire and smoke that popped up in the center of the tiled plaza, right in front of them. It revealed a tall figure in a black robe, with pale-blue skin, yellow eyes, and a smile full of sharp, pointy teeth. What drew attention the most, however, was that he literally had blue fire for hair.

"Hey, kids!" Hades said, posing with a big grin. "Wassup?"

In response, the three immediately summoned their Keyblades. "Hades" Kanba growled. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Ooh, you're pretty feisty, pinkie" the ruler of the underworld replied. "Straight to the point, you want it? Okay. Y'see, there's this new big baddie in town, and he's hired me for a job. I do this for him, and when gets a body and starts wreaking his special havoc on the realms, consuming souls (Hearts, if you wanna call 'em that), I get a little cut of the profits! And of course… considering the scale he plans to operate on, 'a little cut' is still pretty darn big."

He stretched theatrically. "So… You kids get the honor of fighting… me! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rumble with the Lord of the Dead!"

"What makes you think we'll go out of our way to fight you like this?" Erika asked, scowling. "Especially without backup?"

To punctuate this, the people of Gamma and Sigma Teams, along with the others of Theta Team and the Bureau Group, arrived on scene. Recognizing Hades, they all readied themselves for battle.

Hades grinned evilly. "What makes you think I'm givin' you a choice?"

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts II _– "Rowdy Rumble")

Suddenly, a wall of magical fire sprang up around the 'battlefield', trapping Hades, Erika, Laicixa, and Kanba in while keeping everyone else out. Somehow, the fire-wall was transparent, but nothing would be getting through it anytime soon. Hades grinned, fire enshrouding his hands.

"Llllllet's get ready to rumblllllleee!-!-!" he called out.

The three young Keybladers readied themselves, gripping their weapons. Teana prepared to cast something, only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait" Nanoha said. "Let's see how well they do. If it looks like they're in big trouble, we'll punch through the barrier and bail them out. But I kinda want to see how well they can work together in an unexpected situation like this."

Laicixa attacked first, casting a Photon Lancer, a barrage of orange Lighting-type magical projectiles shooting out. "Not bad for an opening" Hades murmured as he viewed the mass of orange sparkling death heading for him, only for the barrage to crash into a wall of Red Hellfire that he conjured forth. He then swung his hand horizontally, unleashing a slicing wave of fire at the trio. Erika formed a fast sequence of hand-seals, a _Suiton: Suijinheki _forming to block the flame-based attack; she then transformed it into a _Suiton: Suigadan_. Hades formed a wall of heat that evaporated the water projectiles before they could reach him.

Erika leapt in, and Hades quickly conjured a forearm-mounted Flame Shield to block her Keyblade, the Stroke of Midnight beating against seemingly-impossible solidified flames. She pressed her attack, trying to break through or slip around his guard, and eventually she managed to land a few hits. Hades replied by turning red, Erika leaping away just as a pillar of flame briefly engulfed him. Upon emerging, he began throwing large fireballs at them, forcing them to dodge every which way. Kanba appeared in front of him, his vectors blurring with motion:

"_Tarenken_!"

A lightning-fast barrage of super-strength vector punches hammered Hades, knocking him several meters back.

"Whoa…" the lord of the dead said, rubbing his jaw. "Kid packs a wallop. Well, then…"

He then proceeded to shoot out two huge jets of flame in opposite directions, one from each arm… and they stopped in place, forming a pair of thick pillars of fire. He then began floating toward the trio with respectable speed, while…

"Everything's better with _spinning_!"

The trio had to jump and roll and run to avoid being hit by the twin pillars of revolving flame. Erika leapt high and fired a Blizzara spell down at Hades, hitting him in the face. It didn't do much more than throw him off-balance, though he did cancel the spinning fire thing. His color returned to the normal blue, and he teleported away in a burst of smoke and fire, reappearing a ways back.

"Okay, so you kids _aren't _pushovers" Hades said. "I guess that means I can kick it up a couple degrees…"

With that, he unleashed a large, wide barrage of fist-sized fireballs at the trio. Erika and Laicixa fired a wave of _Sagitta Magica_, impacting and canceling out most of Hades' attack; the few that got through were stopped by shield spells, while the magical arrows that survived the clash and went at Hades were swatted away by a flaming hand. Kanba leapt in, unleashing a flurry of blows that Hades had to work to block or dodge. He landed a few hits, but nothing climactic. Then, he summoned his Scattershot, firing it one-handed (well, with a pair of vectors bracing the gun and the firing arm, so not really) at Hades, who blocked it with a hastily-conjured defensive wall of Red Hellfire, allowing him to teleport back.

"Huh" he said. "Forerunner tech, eh? Haven't seen that in a while."

He floated several feet up off the ground, his body and fire turning red, and he again formed a pair of flame pillars and began to spin towards the trio… but this time he spun with his body parallel to the ground, and the flames took a different shape, forming a huge flaming wheel.

"You see me rollin'! I bet you hatin'!"

"Did he really just say that?" Marie muttered, hand in her face.

The flaming wheel of death rolled toward the trio, forcing them to stay on the move. A Strike Raid from Erika bounced off, and Hades then started rolling toward her; she had to form a Shadow Clone and have it toss her aside to get out of the way in time. There was a flash of orange light as Laicixa activated her Barrier Jacket (fighting past a wave of embarrassment she felt at all the spectators seeing her in this skimpy thing), gripping Voulge in one hand and Midnight Roar in the other. She fired a combination Photon Lancer / Lightning Ray, the storm of electrical magic projectiles smashing into the flaming wheel. Hades was forced to cancel his technique, blasting a fireball at her as he teleported away, reappearing a handful of meters distant.

"That all you got?" he said.

"_Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu_!"

Erika's attack flew out, a chakra-guided shark made of conjured water 'swimming' through the air toward Hades at high speed. "Down, Bruce!" the lord of the dead cried as he hit it with a concentrated heat-shockwave that gave enough of a shock to dispel the technique… but not the kunai hidden within it, one of which grazed his cheek as he dodged; glowing-hot ashes came out instead of blood.

"An attack hidden inside another attack? Clever, kid."

Then Laicixa was upon him, two blades swinging with precision and power as she pushed him back, battering his defenses. She scored a hit with Voulge's energy scythe, and Hades teleported back and up, turning red and forming his flame pillars again, the fires quickly forming another wheel, this time horizontal. He started moving toward them, the 'wheel' tilting around as it spun for unpredictability.

"The wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'!"

The three kids had to stay in constant motion to avoid being cooked, especially since Hades started firing little "flame mortars" as he spun around in his fire-wheel. After a little while of this, Hades made the flame-wheel burst, transforming into a barrage of spinning foot-wide fire-disks that flew at the trio from several angles. With difficulty, they dodged or shielded against the attacks, coming out unhurt.

Erika realized they needed to strike a decisive blow if they were gonna win this. She had a fancy trick she'd been working on, but wasn't sure if she'd be able to pull it off. If she screwed up, she'd be vulnerable. But they didn't have much choice. She reared back with the Stroke of Midnight, channeling magic into it in preparation for a Strike Raid. She threw the blade, which rapidly spun through the air, glowing with Light magic. Hades hopped over it, letting it sail beneath his feet… and, right behind him, he heard and sensed a burst of Light magic. He spun around, just in time to catch sight of something most unexpected:

All Keybladers could teleport their Keyblades back to them. Erika, however, had just become the first known Keyblader to reverse that magic and teleport _herself _to her Keyblade.

She lashed out with a diagonal cut, a burst of flame and ash signaling a direct hit. Hades stumbled, clutching at his side, panting.

"Okay" he said. "Okay. I've got what I came for already."

"Huh?" Erika asked. "Y-You _weren't _trying to kill us?"

"Well, I kinda was, actually; see if I could do my employer a favor. But what he wanted me to do was _test _you kids – see how strong you are, how good you've gotten with those Keyblades of yours. And now I have a wealth of data for him, just as he wanted! So, I got no reason to stick around here any longer! Bye-bye, kiddies!"

With a snap of his fingers, Hades vanished, as did the magical fire barrier surrounding the battlefield. The trio congregated together, as their families ran up to check on them.

"Well, that was odd" Teana remarked. "You guys okay?"

"We're cool" Kanba replied.

"Rather thirsty, though" Laicixa said. "Dealing with all that heat being thrown around…"

"Okay, then" Sarah replied. "A nice, cool drink, and…" she reached her hand down and under Erika's skirt, checking, as the preteen's face went red. "A diapie change for Erika."

"S-S-Sarah!" the girl squeaked.

"Oh, relax; everyone knows, remember?"

"I-It's still embarrassing…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Radiant Garden – Two Days Later**

Hayate Yagami sat atop a decorative boulder in the main plaza, watching the people go about their daily lives. The sky was overcast and cloudy, though it almost-certainly wasn't going to rain. The kids had convinced Aqua to step their training up, while Fate had also gone to the young Keyblade Master for a little help as well.

She was quietly enjoying her people-watching… when she suddenly noticed someone staring at her from the shadows. Their identity was hidden by a dark-brown hooded robe, their face concealed in shadow, but it didn't take long for Hayate to recognize him: the underling of their mysterious enemy, encountered on the bridge of the _Procyon_. The dark figure leapt up onto a nearby roof and began roof-hopping away. Hayate quickly gave chase, transforming into her Barrier Jacket mid-leap.

"This is Longarch-1 to all forces" she radioed and telepathically stated. "Have spotted High Value Target 2, am in pursuit. HVT-2 is heading for the badlands northwest of the city."

"_Confirm, HVT-2 heading for northwest badlands, over_" the _Starshot_'s comm. operator replied. "_Reinforcements en-route, Longarch-1; they'll meet you there._"

The chase led them to the edges of the city, as Gamma Team and the Wolkenritter joined Hayate, following their elusive target. When they were a little ways into the badlands, the rest of the Bureau Group, along with _Ala Alba _and Sigma & Theta Teams, joined up as well. The chase led them away from the city, out to the wide, circular area where Sora had once taken down 1,000 Heartless by himself. The hooded figure stopped in the middle, as everyone surrounded him, weapons drawn.

"Why are you here, dark one?" Shion scowled, her Dark Templar arm-blade springing to life. "Especially with all of us heavy-hitters here, on the lookout for things like you?"

"_**J**__ust wanted to show you somethin__**g**_" the figure replied, a smirk evident in its tone. "_**R**__ecently, on one of the worlds that young Lanstar visited, there was a conflict of massive scal__**e**__. __**T**__he belligerents amassed a powerful army thanks in part to a certain techniqu__**e**__. …__**A **__technique that my Master has learned, and taught to m__**e**__._"

He brought his gloved hands up… and formed a sequence of shinobi hand-seals.

"_**O**__f course, Master has found a way to circumvent the need for a genetic sample that the technique originally require__**d**__. __**N**__ow, behold the instrument of your demis__**e**__. __**Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei**__!_"

The mysterious figure formed the finishing hand-seal, and a light-brown coffin shot up from the Earth, bearing an intricate symbol on its front.

"The technique Orochimaru used against the _Sandaime_…" Nanoha murmured. "So you'd desecrate the souls of the dead to give yourself an edge against us…"

"_**T**__his powerful soul is strong enough to wipe most of you out… and her identity should handily prevent your stronger individuals from mustering the will to fight her, just as many of the shinobi's wills were broken by being forced to do battle against their loved one__**s**__…_"

It was then that Teana recognized the symbol on the coffin's lid: a Belkan triangle. The lid fell away, the figure within hidden by shadows that quickly receded… and sharp intakes of breath filled the air. Nanoha, Fate, and the Wolkenritter froze in horror.

Hayate stood, pale and shaking, eyes wide with tears building. "W… Why…" she whispered. "How… could you…?"

The mysterious figure stood, arms folded, behind and to the side of the _Edo Tensei _coffin, a smirk faintly visible beneath his hood. Contained within the box, already beginning to stir, colors faded and small cracks here & there marring her transformed-dust body, was the reanimated form of Reinforce.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

KURIFFUHANGAA!-!

Next time: a heartbreaking battle.


	3. Reanimate

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Radiant Garden – Badlands northwest of city**

Shocked silence gripped the area, the howling wind being the only sound. Hayate and her Wolkenritter were horror-struck, as the _Edo Tensei_-reanimated Reinforce slowly brought her head up, eyes opening to reveal black sclera. She looked at herself.

"The reanimation technique created on World NTO-14, by the Second Hokage…" she said to herself. "So I've been brought back to life in order to fight against my will… But who has brought me back, and who will they make me fight?"

She looked up… and her eyes widened.

"M-Mistress…" she spoke softly, horror creeping into her tone as she put two and two together.

"_**T**__his reborn tool shall destroy you threats to my Master's goal__**s**_" the cloaked figure said. Reinforce turned her head, and though she couldn't make out features the man's energy signature was immediately apparent.

"You…" she growled. "All these millennia, and you're still causing pain and suffering wherever you go, on behalf of this mysterious 'Master' of yours. But to force me to fight against my pure-hearted Master and those who helped her, along with my children…"

"_**S**__he's not your 'Master' anymor__**e**__. __**I**__ a__**m**__. __**A**__nd by my decree, you shall strike down these interlopers who dare stand in the way of my Master's goals, whether you want to or no__**t**__. __**Y**__our body is mine to control and command, regardless of how much your mind and soul may feebly rage and thrash, trapped helplessly within your shell as you are forced, imprisoned within your own body, to slaughter those you hold dear with your bare hand__**s**__. …__**T**__his will be most entertainin__**g**__._"

Reinforce found her body taking a few steps forward against her will; she was a helpless passenger in her own body. Ahead, Aqua steeled herself, summoning the Master Keeper. 'A Keyblade?' Reinforce thought. Seconds later, Erika, Kanba, and Laicixa summoned theirs, followed by a reluctant Fate. Most of the others then readied themselves; Hayate and the Wolkenritter were still in shock.

"Takamachi" Precia, gripping Hrist, turned to Nanoha. "You may want to call your two little friends for this."

"R-Right" Nanoha muttered, biting her thumbs, drawing the little blood-sigils on her palms, and pressing them together as she prepared to enter her enhanced form.

"_**I**__'ll leave you folks to your fun, watch from the sideline__**s**__._"

The shadowy figure disappeared in a whorl of black. Reinforce's reanimated body stepped forward, channeling power and preparing to attack, as her mind watched helplessly, the look on her face (the only part of herself she still had control over) showing how badly she was taking being forced to attack her friends.

"I'm sorry" she pleaded. "I'm so sorry… Look out!"

In a burst of incredible speed, Reinforce flash-stepped forward. Time seemed to flow in slow motion as she appeared right in front of a still-in-shock Hayate, skull-shattering punch wound up… and then a huge orange skeletal fist smashed into her, sending her hurtling backward into a rock formation, embedding into it. The sudden crash snapped Hayate out of her stupor.

"Snap out of it, Yagami!" Teana said as her _Susanō _arm dispelled. "I know I can't even begin to imagine how much pain this situation is causing you. But you can't just stand there and refuse to fight! That means the enemy's won! We _need _you; you're one of our powerhouses, and you know Reinforce and her capabilities best. You've done so much in the hopes that she'd be proud of what you've accomplished. 10 years ago, she gave her life to ensure you had a chance to achieve a brilliant future. Now… Show her that her sacrifice wasn't in vain! Show her how strong you've become, so she can be proud!"

The redhead turned to Signum, Shamal, Vita, and Zafira.

"The same goes for you guys! She gave her life for your sakes! Earn it! Besides, isn't it the role of Belkan Knights to protect their Mistress with everything they have, no matter the threat?"

"She's right" Reinforce said as she stumbled out of the rubble, her _Edo Tensei _body repairing itself. "You have to fight me. You can do it. I know you can."

Hayate stood, eyes closed. "…Rein?"

"Yes, _Meister_?" Zwei replied, floating over her shoulder.

"Let's go make your mama proud."

"Okay! Unison in!"

A flash of bluish-white light, and Hayate opened her now-blue eyes, brimming with renewed purpose. A nearby flash of purple accompanied Signum and Agito entering Unison, four thin wings of fire emerging from the swordswoman's back. Vita, Zafira, and Shamal gathered themselves and made ready, magical energies charging. Everyone else readied themselves as well – combatants flared with power, Negi and Evangeline entered their base _Magia Erebea _states, and finally a burst of chakra accompanied Nanoha entering Sage Mode, Shima & Fukasaku appearing on her shoulders.

"An _Edo Tensei _summon…" Fukasaku remarked. "And so powerful… This won't be easy."

"When is it ever easy, pa?" Shima replied. "If it were easy, Nanoha-chan wouldn't have called us!"

"Right, right. At least it looks like we have lots of help this time."

Suddenly, a large pack of Heartless appeared from out of nowhere, spawning in on the battlefield. And then a few more packs of equal size joined in.

"Everyone under Triple-A-Plus Rank in power, concentrate on the Heartless!" Precia ordered. "The higher-level individuals will take Reinforce!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep _OST – "Black Powder")

Nanoha, Fate, Teana, Hayate, Signum, Vita, Precia, Negi, and Evangeline all squared off with the reanimated Reinforce, while everyone else began carving through Heartless. Teana made the first move, a _Katon: Gōenkyū _racing out toward Reinforce. The _Edo Tensei _warrior conjured a brightly-glowing Rune Shield that (barely) withstood the resulting explosion, and then flew upward to dodge a _Karyū Issen _from Signum. The coalition fighters flew up after her, and a pitched aerial battle began.

Negi attacked next, a barrage of 307 Light-type _Sagitta Magica_ being fired at Reinforce. The ancient warrior flew about with great speed and agility, dodging some and blocking others. The comparative few that got through to her did damage that soon regenerated, her reanimated body repairing itself. She countered with a Bloody Dagger barrage, which was blocked by a high-level Ice Shield from Evangeline. Eva then cast _Malleus Aquilonis_, a huge sphere of solid ice forming above and hurtling down towards the reanimated Reinforce, who formed a thin, super-long blade of raw magic over her arm and swung it upwards, bisecting the mass; Evangeline dispelled it before it could crush their allies below. Evangeline then formed an _Excis Exsequens _and flash-stepped in, striking at the 'hilt' of Reinforce's blade; the unique properties of Eva's 'Impossible Blade' destabilized Reinforce's, forcing her to dispel it.

Nanoha appeared in Reinforce's face, lashing out with a series of powerful blows that the reanimated warrior was hard-pressed to block. She went to dodge one instead of blocking… and was hammered by the invisible Sage Chakra field that enveloped Nanoha's body, sending her hurtling through the air. Nanoha followed up with a _senjutsu _-enhanced Accel Shooter Storm Shift, a large barrage of pink magical projectiles flying out in pursuit of their target. Reinforce quickly regained control of herself, her head mending the chunk that Nanoha's blow had taken out of it, and conjured a spherical shield around herself. The barrage hit, and the shield withstood about two-thirds of it before giving way, allowing the rest to hit her directly; she hardened her body with magic to withstand it. The barrage faded to reveal several chunks missing from her, gradually self-repairing… before she was then hidden from sight by the massive violet Lighting-type attack that engulfed her.

"That should do it" Precia said.

"She's an _Edo Tensei _summon" Evangeline replied. "She'll just pull herself back together."

Sure enough, when the smoke cleared, Reinforce's reanimated body was in burnt tatters, but could be seen rapidly reconstituting itself. She looked at Precia. "You're stronger than I am, Testarossa-san" she said. "And Nanoha-san's grasp of _senjutsu _has made her more powerful than I as well. But this body of mine has self-repair and unlimited energy reserves. You won't be able to defeat me in a straight-up fight; I'll outlast you. You need to find another way to win – maybe sever my soul's connection to the material world, or force the jutsu's caster to dispel the technique and free my spirit."

"Easier said than done" Teana replied. "But I do love a challenge."

Reinforce's body flashed into motion, going for Vita… only to get tackled & shocked from the side by Negi, now in his _Raiten Taisō _form. He struck several more times, electrified tackling punches hammering Reinforce at 150 kilometers per second. Unfortunately, Reinforce's defenses and durability were top-notch even back when she was 'alive', so Negi's attacks did less damage than he'd hoped. Unable to hit him the old-fashioned way due to his speed, she then simply unleashed an omni-directional pulse of power that knocked him away.

A _Hraesvelgr _blast from Hayate blindsided the reanimated Reinforce, doing considerably more damage. A strike from Bardiche Zanbar bisected the damaged _Edo Tensei _warrior at the waist; the lower half transformed into those flowing, paper-scraps-esque particles and flew up to join the self-mending upper half as she hovered in the air. She then braced herself just in time to catch Vita's Gigant Hammer strike, with difficulty slowing & stopping the gigantic hammer's momentum. This left her vulnerable to a _Flagrantia Rubicans _from Teana, the flames engulfing her; after several moments, the ashes reconstituted, Reinforce's effectively-immortal reanimated body reforming good as new.

Several Sage-enhanced Binds appeared over Reinforce's body, holding her in place for an _Ōdama Rasengan _from Nanoha. A huge hole was blasted through the target's torso, but of course it rapidly began to mend itself. Nanoha then Flash-Moved out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled through the face by a Bloody Dagger. A _Hiryū Issen _from Signum halted Reinforce's body from pursuing Nanoha, and a _Jaculatio Grandinis _barrage from Evangeline skewered her with several spears of ice, pushing her back.

Down below, the Heartless had been near-totally wiped out by the others. Only a few stragglers remained, being quickly picked off by Zafira, Marie, and Aqua, as the rest of the group stared up at the main battle overhead.

Fate let out a battle cry as she closed in, Bardiche Zanbar in hand, and took several swings that the reanimated Reinforce blocked with her own energy blade. A duel commenced, neither of them gaining the upper hand over the other. After a short while of this, Fate summoned the Sign of Innocence and shifted Bardiche to his Keyblade Form, and pressed her attack. Even trapped as she was within her own body, Reinforce could feel a sudden oddness. Then, Fate struck a blow with her Keyblade, and the strange feeling made itself identifiable to Reinforce: a Forerunner spell, very complex, set up for a specific-circumstances delayed activation, bearing her old mentor & friend's unique magical signature.

And it was planted inside her.

"The Keyblades…" she muttered, as Fate got a little distance to avoid a counterattack. "Everyone!" Reinforce shouted, even as her body still disobeyed her. "The Keyblades! There's some sort of delayed-activation spell inside me! You have to use your Keyblades on me to activate it! I think that might be the key to ending this!"

"We have to force her to go to ground," Nanoha said both audibly and telepathically, "where the other Keybladers can reach her, since other than Laicixa they can't fly."

"Alright, let's push her down groundside!" Teana replied. She flew up above Reinforce and then dove, summoning a Stage-2 _Susanō _and using its shield to block a Photon Lancer barrage that the reanimated warrior sent up at her. As she got close, her spectral warrior lashed out with a steel-shattering punch that sent Reinforce hurtling downward; she pulled up at the last second, her body repairing itself as she hovered a few feet above the rocky ground. At once, Laicixa, Erika, Kanba, and Aqua rushed in, all four of them loosing barrage of magical projectiles, which Reinforce involuntarily blocked against, as usual. Fate came in for a landing and engaged as well, Reinforce working hard to block her blades' swings. Aqua took the opportunity to land a solid hit with the Master Keeper, and Reinforce staggered; for a brief second, she felt her body return to her control, before then shifting back to the mysterious enemy's.

"Try hitting me with all of them at once" she said, even as her body began charging an attack. Suddenly, a powerful series of Binds from Nanoha, Precia, Hayate, Zafira, and Asa sprang up, holding her in place.

"_**I**__ cannot allow tha__**t**_"

The cloaked dark figure suddenly came out of nowhere, flying low over the ground and heading straight for the Keybladers… only to be blindsided by a pulse of solid magic of incredible power. In a burst of pale-blue light, Master Yen-Sid stood between the others and the stunned dark enemy, the Star-Seeker Keyblade in his hands. Seconds later, Teana took position in front of him, staring the enemy down, _Susanō _in Stage 2. She turned to the old master.

"You should help the others, sir" she said.

Yen-Sid nodded, and turned to face the still-pinned Reinforce. He cast his old Physical Enhancement magic, feeling his body surge with power. As one, he, Fate, Aqua, Laicixa, Kanba, and Erika rushed toward Reinforce from six directions. And as one, they struck. Seven Keyblades hit directly, phasing through Reinforce's body… and coming out with a thin trail of serpentine light extending into her from the blades' tips. Following an instinct they couldn't quite understand, the six took position in a circle around Reinforce… and a large magical rune-circle appeared beneath their feet, glowing blue, with Reinforce in the center of a large, eight-pointed structure.

"That's…" Marie muttered. "That's a Forerunner Magic System circle…"

As Teana and Nanoha continued to fend off the cloaked enemy, the circle's brightness increased, and the symbols began to shift and rotate. The six Keyblade-Wielders stood firm, adding their own magic to the prepared spell. Reinforce's binds came free, but she did not attack. She slowly rose into the air, a glow of brilliant light issuing from her eyes and mouth. Then, the Forerunner magic circle, and Reinforce, erupted in a blinding flash of light. For a moment, everything was silent and white.

"_My dear friend Blessed Wind Reinforcing Ailing Stars…_" a woman's voice could be heard from everywhere & nowhere. "_If you are hearing this, then the potentiality I foresaw came to pass. When I placed you into stasis in that trans-slipspace pod, shortly before I headed out to oversee the final preparations for re-seeding after the Halos' fire, I placed this spell within your soul, in preparation for the vision I had experienced. …I remember when you & I created the first Keyblade, to combat the first incursion of those corrupted beings born of the Darkness of sapients' Hearts. The Keyblade, and those that followed it, were your greatest creation. I knew they would save so many. But I also knew that someday you yourself would need to be saved._

"_The spell I set up was to activate if ever you were to fall under the control of another, your body used to fight another, darker being's battles. The power of Light held within the Keyblades, your creations, would trigger and combine with the parcel of my magic that I implanted within you. If you are hearing this, then that foreseen vision came to pass. And you are now free._

"_Do not squander this gift, for it can only be done once. Use the second chance it gives you. Be well, my student, and continue to light the darkness._

"_Your friend, leader of the Lifeworker caste and last Archmage of the Forerunners, The Librarian_"

The light slowly faded, as sound returned to the world. When everything was returned, Reinforce knelt where the center of the rune-circle had been. But something was different. Her body no longer bore the subtle cracks and fissures that had marred it. Her energy felt different, more whole. And when she stood tall, and opened her eyes, the sclera were a normal white, her shining red irises taking everything in. She looked down at herself, sensing her own aura, feeling her heart beat once more.

"Thank you, old friend…" she whispered.

Then, Reinforce, fully reborn, free of the _Edo Tensei _and of the Book of Darkness, turned to face and glare at the hooded foe.

The dark figure growled quietly. "_**T**__his was not supposed to happe__**n**__…_"

And, recognizing that he was sorely outgunned, the dark figure beat a hasty retreat, vanishing from the material plane.

The Forerunner-raised human named Blessed Wind Reinforcing Ailing Stars, also known by the shortened name of Reinforce, stood in place, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh.

"R… Reinforce?"

She turned around, and saw as Hayate gently touched down a few meters from her, eyes wide and staring at her. She smiled.

"Yes, Mistress Hayate" she said softly. "Thanks to one last gift from a very dear friend, I am alive. And I am free. I'm back, Hayate. I'm back."

There was a flash of light from Hayate as Zwei de-Unisoned, backing away to let her _Meister _and her mother have their moment together. Reinforce walked up to Hayate, laying a hand on her cheek. And then Hayate latched onto her as hard as she could, crying her eyes out. Reinforce held her close as she sobbed inarticulately, rubbing her back to soothe her and to reassure her that this was real, that she was back.

After a good, long while, Hayate had composed herself enough to stop crying, though she still wouldn't let Reinforce go. The others had gathered around now.

"So you were alive during the time of the Forerunners?" Marie asked.

Reinforce nodded. "Before the Flood arrived in force, the humans of that time had their own interstellar empire. But they and the Forerunners came into conflict. The Forerunners won. I was just a child, a babe orphaned by the war, when The Didact began to inflict his terrible punishment upon humanity. However, The Librarian snatched me away, saving me, and raised me as her own in secret. I was her friend, her daughter, and her student. At some point, I discovered the secret to the extreme longevity that only the greatest of Forerunner Archmages, such as The Librarian herself, knew. It was then that I achieved agelessness, much like she had. We accomplished so much together. When the first of what you call Heartless made themselves known, it was I who used Light magic most ancient and arcane to forge the first Keyblade, and set in motion the creation of other, lesser Keyblades for ages to come.

"When the war with the Flood was all but lost, The Librarian chose to sacrifice her one chance to survive the Halo Array in order to ensure my safety. She stuck me in a slipspace stasis capsule, and sent me away, into another Realm. I awoke around… 800 years ago, I believe. Eventually I settled with the Belkans… where it was that, around four centuries ago, I was involuntarily bound to the newly-created Book of Darkness. And you know the rest."

"So… You created the χ-Blade?" Aqua asked.

Reinforce used her magic to delve into Aqua's mind and memories, fetching what information she needed to know. She made a face.

"Firstly, that which this 'Master Xehanort' forged was _a_ χ-Blade, but it was not _the_χ-Blade. The original was lost long ago, broken into 20 pieces – 7 of Light, 13 of Darkness. It was the key to the true Kingdom Hearts, as opposed to the lesser Kingdoms Hearts that have been encountered by you and your allies thus far. Though powerful, a χ-Blade forged by two Hearts, one of Light and one of Darkness, pales in comparison to the lost original."

"Secondly, the χ-Blade was not the first Keyblade. In fact, it wasn't a true Keyblade at all, but an entirely different ancient-magic weapon bearing a few similar properties. The Librarian and I created it first, true, but the first of what you know as Keyblades came second. It was simply dubbed 'The Key', though it could also be called the Kingdom Key. The boy named Sora is its present chosen wielder."

"Do you… know anything about our mysterious enemy?" Nanoha asked.

"I do not know his identity, or which realm he came from" she replied. "Though I do know he is a full-fledged Greater Daemon – a Daemon Lord, if you prefer. Vast in age and in power, and in malevolence…"

"So… What should we do now?" Teana asked.

"The enemy will be thrown off-balance by my rebirth. We must capitalize on that to further fortify our defense, hone our ability to withstand the coming storm. I will help however I can."

"You should spend time with your family first, milady" Yen-Sid replied.

Reinforce's expression softened, as she hugged Hayate again. "Of course. A wise suggestion, Master Yen-Sid."

"And now, I am afraid I must return to my home" the old mage said. "There have been… complications in Sora & Riku's Mark of Mastery exams, and I must see to the training of another new addition to our cause…"

In a flash of bluish-white light, he vanished.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Later That Day**

Everyone congregated in the _Starshot_'s slipspace translocation terminal room. A few volunteers from the Phoenix League were coming over to assist in what ways they could. The large slipspace portal along the far end of the room whirled to life, blue and black swirling together. From it emerged a handful of people.

"So this is the _Starshot_…" murmured Ishtar Solos, the blue-haired Elvaan girl looking around at the décor.

"She's in pretty good shape for being 100 millennia old" remarked Kate Compton, head of Phoenix League ONI. At her side, the ever-mute Klara Leads nodded in agreement.

"Just remember" Melody Marston-Johnson-Devine said. "We're not just here to gawk. Hey, Lanstar! You're lookin' well!"

"Same to you, ma'am" Teana nodded cordially. "Welcome aboard. You've been briefed?"

"Yeah, we've been filled in. Man, you guys keep encountering crazier and crazier stuff, huh?"

"Story of my life. So it's just you four?"

"Nah, we got two more comin'. They ain't League, though."

Before anything more could be said, the two in question walked through the portal, which then closed. Mild surprise filled the room at seeing these two.

"Hey there" said Sarah Kerrigan, wearing a Ghost outfit, her "hair" in a low ponytail, and Zeratul at her side. "Mind if we join in?"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next chapter's Da Big One!


	4. Revelations

EDITED 3/29/2013 - Dialogue concerning Duran/Narud altered

Here it is, folks. Now, we get to learn some big things about our mysterious foes. Stay tuned, and pay close attention…

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Radiant Garden – Four Days After Previous Chapter**

Once more, there was a period of relative peace. Reinforce settled in quickly enough, assuming her role as another beloved member of the Yagami Family. Training continued, techniques being taught and/or refined. In particular, several of the mages worked together to create an entirely new spell, a powerful and complex transformation spell. Fate had volunteered to be the first test subject.

Now, as the light faded, Fate stood in the center of a magical rune-circle, in the body of a 9-year-old.

"How do I look?" the young adult in the body of a little girl asked.

"Adorable!" Nanoha replied as she walked up, picking little Fate up and holding her, snuggling her and giggling from the cuteness. "I'd almost forgotten how cute you were back then!"

Fate blushed as her giggling girlfriend cuddled her. Fate was only partially aware that her de-aged body was affecting her mind in certain ways, giving her a more childish persona and mindset; in this form she was shyer than normal, like she had been when she actually was nine years old, and had a powerful craving for affection due to being "closer" to her upbringing. Thus, she found herself enjoying being hugged and cuddled and held by Nanoha more than she expected.

Fate then felt as another person came up from behind, gently taking her from Nanoha. She stiffened instinctively as she realized it was Mother, but one look at Precia's loving smile chased the bad feelings away, and she & mama hugged each other tight, the remorseful woman softly stroking her little girl's hair. Precia felt joy as she felt her little Fate relax, all the tension leaving her, and snuggle up closer to her. She knelt down, Fate still in her arms, so Laicixa could come up and hug the girl from behind at the same time, making Fate the filling of a Hug Sandwich. A single tear of joy escaped from Fate's eye.

"Now remember, Fate-chan" Shamal said a few minutes later. "The physical aspect of the transformation is total, except for memory. You, obviously, remember everything, but I should warn you your younger body will come with subtle personality differences, childlike impulses, and such. Also, you still have access to all your magic and jutsu, though you're a little less powerful. This transformation has no maximum time, and you can change back & forth at will between this form and your real form, but once you shift forms you're stuck in that form for seven hours, so you won't be able to return to your 19-year-old form for about six-and-a-half hours from now."

"I understand everything" the girl replied. "Thank you, Shamal. I… think I'll really enjoy being a kid for a little while."

At this point, Erio walked in the room.

"Hey, guys" he said. "Did the spell wor-"

He stopped, eyes going wide, as he found himself face-to-face with Fate, who was now his own age. She looked at him with a cute little smile, a faint pink blush on her cheeks as she still felt self-conscious. "H-Hi, Erio" she said in that adorably soft voice.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, Erio's face went beet-red. "E-E-Excuse me!" he squeaked out, turning and running out.

Nanoha giggled. "It looks like he definitely approves, Fate-chan!"

The girl in question blushed as she put two & two together. "Y-Yeah…" she mumbled.

"Come on, sister!" Laicixa said with a smile as she (gently) grabbed hold of Fate's arm. "Let's go out for ice cream!"

"S-Sure. You pick where we go, Laicixa."

"I know just the place. Come with me!"

**-_SCENE BREAK_-**

**Six Hours Later**

As usual, the trouble seemed to start out of nowhere. Things had been peaceful and quiet all day, when all of a sudden an absolute _horde _of Heartless and Unversed appeared outside the city, marching on the gates and walls. Everyone immediately mobilized (including Fate, still in her Child Form, complete with wearing her skimpy old Barrier Jacket), heading to the outskirts of the city, to meet the foe head-on before they could breach Radiant Garden proper. Armed forces from the _Starshot _added to the city's defenses, armor and defensive formations being rapidly put into place. Group Takamachi, Ala Alba, and Gamma, Sigma, & Theta Teams met the enemy's advance, slaughtering scores of dark creatures.

Ishtar Solos rushed forward, massive shield in front as she used it to bowl over a pack of Soldiers and Scrappers. She pulled free her heavy blaster cannon and fired at a Large Body, blowing its head off. A Stealth Sneak de-cloaked behind her, claw raised for a crushing swipe… and a sniper's bullet from a few hundred meters away tore through its head, killing it.

"_You're welcome_" Compton radioed to Ishtar.

A trio of Soldier-type Heartless was destroyed by a single wide swing of Sarah's gravity hammer. The tall blonde used the momentum of her swing to land a super-strength punch on a Bruiser, destroying it. She then ducked to avoid a falling Axe Flapper, frozen solid by a charged Ice Beam burst from Marie's Device; it shattered on impact with the ground. A little ways away, Asa and Mai were teamed up to take out a large pack of Shadows, Lancer and SAW being used to gun the things down.

Erika and Kanba had joined up, the Stroke of Midnight and the All For One carving through Heartless and Unversed at a respectably high rate, as two of Aqua's three students fought together with impressive symmetry. Laicixa and Fate had teamed up as well, the Testarossa sisters – presently still the same size – continued to bring the enemy's numbers down. Overhead, Nanoha and Negi flew about, launching 'air strikes' on targets of opportunity. Arf, in her adult form, hammered a few Soldiers, glad to have a chance to be back in the action.

Heartless and Unversed fell to the ground in pieces as Zeratul and Shion leapt about, the two Dark Templars' Void Blades felling the dark beings easily. Zeratul's kill count was noticeably higher, though Shion was making a good showing. A burst of psionic power sent a pack of Scrappers flying, as Kerrigan used her abilities and her marksman rifle to thin the enemy ranks. Ahsoka was close in, providing support and defense for her, using her lightsabers to hack apart any dark creatures that came within range.

Aqua wielded the Master Keeper expertly, felling Unversed in droves. As she took out a pack of Scrappers, she saw a cloaked Stealth Sneak emerging behind Subaru… but before she could even call out a warning, the Heartless was struck down, and Aqua felt surprise as she saw who it was.

"Sora!" she called out.

"Hey, Aqua!" the wielder of the Kingdom Key said. "Looks like we got here just in time!"

"What're you doing here? What about your Exam?"

"There were some… complications that I'll tell you about later. Suffice to say, though, that the Exams are over. Riku and the others are here, too."

As he said this, a small Guard Armor was weakened by a Thundaga from Donald, and then struck down by Riku. King Mickey flitted about, striking down Heartless and Unversed with unparalleled skill. Master Yen-Sid stood amidst the chaos, barely moving, yet lances of his magic destroyed scores of the dark beings before they could even come close to him. As Marie fired a Light Beam shot to take out a Soldier, she looked behind her just in time to watch three more perish in a burst of flame. The man responsible landed in front of her; she almost called him by his Nobody's name, before remembering the specifics of Heartless/Nobody reincarnation.

"Lea!" she said.

The 'Somebody' of Axel looked at her with open gratitude. "_Thank_ you!" he said. "_Everyone's _been calling me 'Axel' ever since I showed up! I mean, sure, I pretty much _am _him – memories, abilities, and all –, but it's still annoying. …It's a good thing you guys saved some for me; I didn't wanna show up with nothin' to do. Plus I get to have a little more field practice with the newest addition to my arsenal."

In a flash of light, his 'new addition' appeared; Marie's jaw dropped. 'Holy crap, Axel has a _Keyblade_!' she thought. 'So _awesome_!'

"Now, how 'bout I show you what I can do with this baby?" he said with a cocky grin, before then rushing into the Heartless, taking them down with slices, stabs, and blasts of fire.

The battle went on for another 20 minutes in similar fashion – Heartless and Unversed died in droves, either at the coalition's top-dogs' hands or when trying in vain to break through the coalition soldiers' defensive positions surrounding the city.

"_Guys!_" Teana telepathically said. "_I'm fighting Ruin! We're over by the rock formation shaped like a 'U'!_"

"On our way!" Nanoha replied.

Within minutes, the big-names were congregating around the duel, with the few remaining Heartless & Unversed dashing themselves futilely against the city defenses. Teana and Ruin broke off from another clash, staring each other down from several meters away. The shorter figure with the two evil Keyblades was still concealed by her black Organization-style hooded cloak, which now had a few small tears in it. The small figure looked around, and her tone hinted of a smirk.

"Well, it seems we've gathered an audience, Lanstar" she said. "Including… Ah…"

Her eyes laid on Precia, Laicixa, and the still-de-aged Fate. Her gaze quickly focused on the young dual-wielding blonde.

"Hello, Fate" she said. "Long time no see."

"Huh?" the girl replied. "Do I know you?"

"Not exactly. But I know you. I know you very well indeed."

Ruin slowly took a few steps forward, and Fate walked out toward her in return.

"What are you talking about?" Fate demanded. "Who are you?"

"Someone from the Dark" Ruin replied.

The two 'children' gradually grew closer… and then, suddenly, Ruin clinked the tips of her Keyblades together, and a transparent Barrier sprang up around her and Fate, locking everyone else out. Fate jumped, and launched a Photon Lancer barrage at the barrier, at the same time that Nanoha fired an Accel Shooter. Neither attacks made anything more than a ripple; the same could be said for Arf's frantic magic-charged punches as she desperately tried to reach her charge.

"I've been waiting a long, long time for the chance for me and you to settle things, Fate" Ruin said with an evil grin. "I'm not about to let anyone interrupt our meeting."

Fate's expression hardened. "How do you know about me? Why have you been waiting to meet me?"

Ruin chuckled. "Do you remember that day, Fate? The day seven years ago, when you briefly became a monster?"

Fate stiffened and went pale. "H… H-How do you know about that?" she said in a quiet, vulnerable tone.

"There's something about this girl…" Aqua murmured, staring at Ruin. "Something about her voice…" All of a sudden, a terrifying possibility popped into her head. "It can't be…" she whispered.

"All Hearts have Darkness inherent in them" Ruin said. "In some, it is small and never takes firm hold. In others, it is all-consuming. Other than the seven Princesses of Heart, created by the shattering of the original χ-Blade, have naturally-pure Hearts; the few other Hearts lacking Darkness are that way artificially and unnaturally, the Darkness stripped from them by an outside force. …Even your innocent sister Alicia had Darkness in her Heart, however small. However, when you were created, all the Darkness of _her _Heart somehow transferred over to _your _Heart, merging with your Heart's own inherent Darkness. That was why you held such strong, malignant Darkness inside you. And it only became stronger thanks to Precia's abuses."

The woman in question looked deeply ashamed at the reminder of her insane self's actions.

"On that day, your Darkness reached its zenith. You subsumed yourself in it, and only the last-minute interference from Alicia's spirit kept you from being consumed. The terrible Darkness, faced with your and Alicia's Light, was stripped away from you, cast out into the void of nonexistence. But…"

Ruin slowly reached up, grabbing hold of her hood.

"All that Darkness…"

She began to pull her hood down.

"…didn't just go away."

The hood fell back. And shock reigned. Fate briefly forgot how to breathe.

(MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep _OST – "The Key of Darkness")

"We finally meet…" Ruin said, an evil grin upon her face – _Fate's_ face –, her golden eyes bearing wicket mirth, her long black hair spilling forth. "_Sister_…"

"It's true…" Aqua murmured. "Just like Ven and Vanitas…"

"I…" Fate could barely speak. "You… You're…"

"Yes…" Ruin hissed. "_I_ am your Unversed. _I_ am the Darkness of your and Alicia's Hearts!"

"But… How…"

"When you cast me out, my Master found me. He gave me life, he gave me my own mind, my own sapience. He gave me power. And he gave me a purpose: to help him spread Darkness throughout the Universe, and consume all Hearts, extinguish all Light! But to do that, I'll need a catalyst. A χ-Blade should do nicely. And since I am born of two Hearts, then consuming your purified Heart _and _Alicia's should create a χ-Blade twice as powerful as the one my predecessor Vanitas forged! And with that mighty construct, I will open the Door to Ultimate Darkness, spreading madness, death, destruction, and darkness across the Universe! Once every sapient being everywhere has been consumed by Darkness, my Master and I will then snuff out the galaxies themselves, leaving nothing but cold, silent, dead Darkness, with all souls, all Hearts, ours to play with and torture for eternity! And we'll keep going until every Heart, in every realm, ending with Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of Creation itself, is consumed!"

"So that's what our enemy is after…" Teana said. "The fall of every Heart, everywhere, to Darkness."

"Even… Even if you say that…" Fate countered. "There's one crucial piece of your plan missing: Alicia's Heart. She's dead; her Heart is passed on."

At this, Ruin openly laughed. "Is that so?"

She reached her hand out at Fate… and Fate fell to her knees, gasping for breath from the sudden pain inside her chest. She could faintly hear the others calling out to her from outside the barrier, as Ruin casually walked closer to her, standing over her.

"The fact that you bear Alicia's memories is not solely due to the cloning process used to create you. …Her assisting you in the Book of Darkness' dream world, her rescuing you from being consumed seven years ago… She's closer than you think, Fate. Ever since your creation… Alicia's soul – her Heart – has resided within _you_! She's been a passenger inside your body since the day you were made!"

Even through the pain, Fate felt more shock than she'd ever thought possible. 'Alicia's… inside me…? All this time?'

"I…" Precia stammered. "I can't believe it… And… A-All those times I hurt her, I was… O-Oh, by the Saint…" she went pale with horror as the implications set in.

Laicixa fell to her knees, too in shock to stand up anymore.

"Now…" Ruin said, raising her Dark Keyblades. "To strike you down, and consume your Heart _and _hers! The χ-Blade shall now be forged anew!"

Everything seemed to move at a snail's pace, as the horrified onlookers watched the deadly blades moving down at the incapacitated girl.

'_Fate!-!_'

*CLANG!*

Ruin's eyes widened with surprise, as Fate's two Keyblades blocked hers, slowly pushing her attack back. Fate had a determined angry look on her face, as power and righteous fury flowed within her.

"Forget it!" she snarled. "There is no way you're taking my sister's Heart!"

Ruin leapt away just as Fate cast _Chidori Nagashi_, swathing her body in chirping golden-yellow Lightning-type chakra for several seconds. The dark being let out a quiet growl as she shed her black coat, revealing an outfit nigh-identical to what Vanitas had worn a decade ago.

"Alright, then" she said. "So we get to do this the hard way. …Good."

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts _OST – "_Forze del Male_")

Ruin's black aura flared to life like an unholy flame, as a wicked, bloodthirsty grin appeared on her face.

"Time for the fun to really begin, _sister_! Let's shed some blood!"

She rushed forward, and Fate brought Bardiche up to block her attack, lashing out with Sign of Innocence in a counterattack. Ruin moved one of the blades to intercept, and the two girls briefly tried to push through each other's guards before breaking off and jumping back. Both fired a Photon Lancer barrage at each other – one gold, one black – and quickly shielded to protect themselves, withstanding each other's attacks. Fate charged in immediately afterward, and Ruin moved to meet her, Keyblades clanging together as the two entered a fast-paced duel.

Ruin leapt high, dodging a strike at her neck, and fired a Dark Firaga down at her counterpart. Fate countered with a _Katon: Kakyū_, the two fireballs meeting in the middle and cancelling out. Fate followed with a _Raiton: Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu _(an alternate name of the _Rairyōken no Jutsu_), a pair of lightning-hounds racing forth at Ruin. Ruin's Keyblades surged with dark power, and she struck the two electrical constructs just as they got close, dispelling them. Fate then cast a Triple Firaga from her Keyblades that crashed against a shield Ruin summoned, the third one breaking through at half-strength, singing her.

Ruin rushed at Fate again, their blades meeting once more. Close-range Photon Lancer blasts accompanied thrusts, parries, and stabs, both combatants trying and failing to overcome each other. Fate briefly dispelled the Sign of Innocence and landed a right cross to Ruin's face with her freed right hand, and Ruin responded with a kick to Fate's side. A combination swordfight and close-combat brawl commenced. After about half a minute, they broke off again, and Fate formed a cross with her index fingers, molding chakra and mana.

"_Kage Bunshin_!"

Three more Fates appeared surrounding the original, and all four moved out, each of them firing a Photon Lancer strike at Ruin. Ruin shielded, and then rushed at one of the Shadow Clones, hitting it in the face with a point-blank pulse of dark power, causing it to dispel in a puff of smoke. Fate and another of her Shadow Clones ran at Ruin, blades drawn, and the dark entity moved to meet them. After several seconds, she landed a kick to the real Fate's midsection, and the shock caused her Shadow Clone to dispel. Ruin then stood over Fate, pressing down with her blades, trying to out-muscle her. She paid little mind to the fact that Fate was only wielding Bardiche at the moment.

"You really thought that would work?" she taunted.

Fate grinned. "That wasn't a normal Shadow Clone technique. Did you notice I included magical energy into it? While I was fighting you, I was simultaneously searching within myself, and devising a plan. So for one of those Shadow Clones, I included a little something extra…"

"So that _I _could join the fight!" a new voice cried.

Ruin's eyes widened with surprise, and she then barely avoided a decapitating strike from the Sign of Innocence, wielded by what looked like another Fate. She landed several meters away, as the other Fate charged her body with power, a golden Midchildan magic circle appearing beneath her. …But then, the circle's color changed to an electric-blue, and the new Fate's Barrier Jacket changed as well – black became white, red became blue, and the pinkish-white miniskirt became a deeper, brighter pink. She turned to the fallen Fate, offering a helping hand up… and the spectators noticed that, unlike Fate, she was holding the Keyblade in her left hand.

"Take my hand, Fate" she said with a warm smile.

"Thank you… Alicia"

Gasps rang out amongst the watching crowd. Precia almost fell off her feet as she heard and saw.

"I can't believe it!" Chamo shouted from his perch atop Negi's head, his eyes faintly glowing. "I'm using my Fey Sight, and I can see that Fate-chan's actually managed to move Alicia's Heart into a specially-prepared, super-Shadow-Clone! I can see a thin thread of magic connecting the two of them, like a Pactio!"

"We can save the ecstatic 'OMG sister love' hugs and stuff for after the fight, okay?" Alicia joked.

Fate nodded with a smile, and then her expression hardened as she turned to face Ruin.

"Well, look at this…" Ruin commented. "Both of the Hearts I need, standing together against me. Do you two really think you can beat me, even two on one?"

"Good point" Alicia replied. "You're pretty skilled. So let's tip the odds a little further."

She reached her hand out towards Laicixa, and the girl in question found her Keyblade, Midnight Roar, suddenly teleporting out of her hands and into Alicia's. Alicia then tossed it high, and Laicixa, remembering the trick Erika had created and taught her, and realizing what to do, tapped into the Keyblade's 'Teleportation Recall' ability and reversed it, warping herself to Midnight Roar's position. A burst of orange light accompanied her Barrier Jacket activating, and she landed beside her sisters, weapons at the ready.

Alicia then quickly pulled Fate and Laicixa to herself, and she linked her magic, her Linker Core, with their Cores, her Heart with their Hearts, while touching their Keyblades together. Alicia's body glowed with light for a few seconds.

"I don't believe it…" Chamo said. "She just turned her temporary souped-up Shadow Clone vessel into a whole, complete, stable new body! _And _she forged links between all three of their Hearts!"

"Man, Keyblades are total _Deus Ex Machinae_, aren't they?" Lea said.

"Considering that Master Xehanort used his to cast his own Heart out of his old body and into Terra's…" Master Yen-Sid replied. "In addition, the Hearts of those three were already linked in a way; what Alicia just did was capitalize on that link, strengthening it and using it to her benefit."

"I'm back for good now, sisters" Alicia said. "Now… Let's celebrate by sending this little abomination packing."

"Sounds good to me" Laicixa replied, readying Midnight Roar.

"Right" Fade nodded.

Ruin snarled. "This won't be enough. I _will _defeat you!"

"You're wrong" Fate replied. "Our Hearts strengthen each other, enough to overcome you."

"You won't be taking anyone's Hearts today" Laicixa said.

"Now face the power of the Testarossa Triplets!" Alicia finished.

Ruin charged, Dark Keyblades readied, and the sisters rushed to meet her. Laicixa led, lashing out with Voulge's Scythe Form; the orange energy blade clashed with one of Ruin's weapons, while Alicia's Keyblade attacked from the other side, the two slowly pushing Ruin back. Fate leapt in from above and behind, landing a solid hit with Bardiche Keyblade across Ruin's back; the dark girl growled in pain and fury, and loosed a pulse of Darkness that sent all three girls flying. Ruin held both her Keyblades high, and a huge swarm of Black Lightning spheres appeared around her.

"Photon Lancer: Genocide Shift!"

They shot out in multiple directions, streaking through the air towards Fate, Alicia, and Laicixa. Alicia stood in place and formed the strongest Shield Spell she could, Fate started flitting about with dazzling speed & agility to dodge, and Laicixa struck a middle ground, dodging some shots and shielding against others. After her shields (barely) withstood the strikes, Alicia threw the Sign of Innocence in a Strike Raid attack, nailing Ruin in the side; the Unversed Lord responded by charging at Alicia, locking blades with her. While not as aggressive as Fate, Alicia quickly proved herself to have commendable defense, blocking and parrying Ruin's attacks. Just as she started to falter, Laicixa came in from the side, having dealt with the black lightning bolts chasing her. Ruin broke off from Alicia to block Laicixa's attack, and the two then started pressing their attack against her.

Ruin leapt away to get some breathing room, and Fate pounced, her Device/Keyblade battering Ruin's defenses. Ruin gradually gained the upper hand, only to be pushed into a stalemate when Laicixa joined in. After a short while, Ruin landed a rising knee to Laicixa's midsection, and was in turn hit by a lightning-charged Lariat move from Fate that stunned her long enough for Alicia to hit her with a Spark Raid. Ruin snarled as she copied Fate's earlier technique, sending a pair of black lightning hounds at Laicixa. At the same time, she fired a Dark Firaga at Alicia. Laicixa charged her Keyblade with magic and struck at the electrical constructs, dispelling them, while Alicia conjured a Rune Shield that blocked the fireball. Ruin threw her Keyblades in a Darkness-imbued double Strike Raid, the two weapons spinning through the air like dark buzzsaws. Laicixa cast a Reflega spell to protect her and Alicia from one of them, while Fate blasted the other with a _Katon: Gōkakyū_, forcing it back; both Keyblades reappeared in Ruin's hands.

The two sides squared off, waiting for the other to make a move. All four were winded, feeling the strain, but still able to go.

"Give it up" Ruin panted. "It's obvious that, even working together, you three can only stalemate with me. And I have large enough reserves that I can outlast you, and start picking you off one by one." She laughed briefly. "This fight's outcome is already determined."

"Is it truly, Dark One?"

The four turned to look, and saw Zeratul focusing a charge of Void energy within his palms. Shion stood at his side, doing the same, and nearby Asuna was charging her Anti-Magic into her blade. Before Ruin could cry out in frustration and rage, they unleashed their attacks, and the mingling energies catastrophically destabilized the Dark Barrier separating everyone from the fight, causing it to collapse with a sound like shattering glass. Immediately everyone began to advance slowly, boxing Ruin in. The girl, defiant as ever, stood her ground.

"_**N**__eed a little help there, Rui__**n**__?_"

There was a sudden flare of power, a pillar of raw Dark power surrounding Ruin, pushing everyone back. When it faded, two new figures stood at her side. The first was the cloaked individual responsible for massacring the _Procyon_'s bridge crew and reanimating Reinforce. The other was an entirely new figure – extremely tall, and thin, with long, thin arms, covered head to toe in spiky black & gray armor, its face totally hidden.

"Though ashamed to say it aloud," Ruin said, "I am thankful for your timing, Narud."

"_**T**__his was reckless of you, Rui__**n**__. __**W**__hat would have happened here if Slind and I had not been close b__**y**__?_"

The tall armored daemon named Slind simply stood there silently, looking down at Ruin.

"This is nice" Evangeline said, beginning to charge her power. "Now we can take out all three of them at once."

"_**I do not think so, little human.**_"

(MUSIC: _Mass Effect _OST – "Sovereign('s Theme)")

Everyone startled as the air seemed to suddenly thicken and darken, the temperature dropping. A swirling pitch-black vortex appeared in the air behind the three Dark Generals, seeming to absorb all light. The three spun round to face it, kneeling before it.

"Master…" Ruin murmured. "Why would you deign to grace our lowly selves with your presence?"

"_**I felt it time that our foes learn exactly whom it is that they face**_" the deep, flanging voice replied. "_**They would have found out eventually; better to have it happen on my terms.**_"

"So the Big Bad plans to finally show himself?" Marie said.

"Show yourself, daemon" Zeratul said. "Come out, so we may kill you."

"C'mon, big buy" Teana said. "Let's get this over with."

The dark entity chuckled, as the black vortex grew. "_**Such arrogance. Your threats are so hollow as to be amusing to a being such as myself. Humans, Sangheili, Protoss… You bear witness to a power that has reigned since before your species had evolved even the barest hints of sapience. But not that I would expect you to be capable of comprehending something so far above yourselves… you foolish, prideful children.**_"

Suddenly, hearing that phrase, Zeratul remembered where he'd heard this mysterious voice, and terror gripped his old heart. Nearby, Shion went deathly pale as she recalled as well.

"I… I don't believe it…" she stammered. "O-Our enemy is… is…"

The black vortex twisted and shifted and grew, taking the form of a humanoid shape. The entity was tall, around the height of an Mgalekgolo, wearing black and grey armor over his darkened hide. Glowing crimson eyes shone above a mouthless face and beneath a crown of chitinous horns growing from the top of his head, and mandibles tipped with fangs framed his chin. His body surged with a pitch-black aura, unholy daemonic power enveloping him. And those who recognized such things felt terror as they looked upon his form.

The form of a fallen Xel'Naga.

"The…" Teana squeaked out, eyes wide. "The Dark Voice…"

The Xel'Naga-turned-Daemon-Lord looked around. "_**How long it has been since I allowed myself to set foot in the Material Realm…**_" he mused.

"_**M**__y Maste__**r**__…_" the brown-robed figure still bowed, a gust of wind dislodging his hood, revealing the face of an old and powerful entity that had borne many identities over his long life, the latest of which being the human disguise 'Dr. Emil Narud'. "_**Y**__ou honor us with your presenc__**e**__…_"

"_**Rise, my faithful. Stand beside me for this moment.**_"

As the three stood and took positions beside the Dark Voice, he looked out at the now-petrified crowd surrounding him and them. His eyes fell upon Sora and Reinforce.

"_**The weapon crafted to combat my children, and the Archmage who created it… This is quite the coincidental meeting.**_"

"What?" Sora asked. "You… Are you saying you _created_ the Heartless?-!"

"_**Yes. They were always intended to consume and corrupt Hearts so as to fuel my armies of conquest; some consumed Hearts would make more of what you call 'Heartless', while others were to be fed to myself, my Generals, and my Hybrids. To use terms you may understand, the Heartless and the Zerg are my foot-soldiers, and the Hybrids are my elite, subservient only to myself and my Generals.**_" He focused on Reinforce. "_**I admit, I am quite surprised that you managed to escape my trap, little Forerunner.**_"

"Trap?" Reinforce asked with curiosity, before horrified revelation set in. "You… It was _you_ who turned the Night Sky Tome into the Book of Darkness!"

If the Dark Voice had a mouth, he'd have smirked. "_**A warrior of the Light, transformed into a slave to a tool of Darkness, imbued with a fragment of my essence… The irony was wondrously amusing.**_ _**And the souls it harvested over its centuries of service certainly went a way towards assisting my plans.**_"

"So what are your plans?" Teana tried to sound as calmly angry as she could, despite the instinctual terror this greater daemon's mere presence filled her with.

"_**After I ascended to daemonhood, and my former brethren sealed me into the Void in response, I first corrupted their latest project, their 'Zerg', subverting their Overmind and using it and its children to annihilate them. Their Hearts and life-essence providing me with yet more power. Over the eons, I carefully worked to consume the essence of sapients and of worlds, growing more and more in power. Now, I stand among the ranks of the 10-Tails and Tzeentch in terms of power. Even the Precursors and the C'Tan would bow before me.**_

"_**But that isn't enough. In my time in the Void, I have divined my true purpose: to be the end of all things; to consume all Hearts, all souls, all worlds, in all realms. Eventually, my plans were set in motion. I set my oldest and most faithful second**_" he gestured to Narud "_**on a path to begin the creation of my Hybrids, the elite of the army I would use to conquer all of Creation. But I could never hope to prevail against all existence with just the Hybrids; their numbers would never be great enough. So I set about preparing two races that would together make up the bulk of my forces.**_

"_**The Heartless, my creations, would be the first. And the Zerg, my former brethren's creations subverted to my will, would be the second. For countless millennia, I have worked behind the scenes, slowly setting the stage for my arrival, and my victory. Powerful threats slain or subverted, Hearts harvested, worlds consumed, all have been singular steps further along towards my goal. And despite… some setbacks…**_" he glared at Kerrigan "_**everything is going well.**_"

"We _will _stop you" Teana glared. "No matter what it takes."

"No matter the darkness," Zeratul spoke, "there is always a spark of hope. And that spark shall become a brilliant light that shall burn you and your ilk away forever."

The Dark Voice chuckled. "_**Believe what you will. But when my Darkness has smothered your pitiful little spark, in your last moments you will understand the truth and despair. …Prepare yourselves however you think might help; I anticipate the challenge. This exchange is over. But… before I go… I suppose it would not hurt to add another few members to my forces…**_"

The Dark Voice pointed his palm at the ground in front of him, as he reached into the Void and grabbed hold of a mass of Darkness banished there. He pulled it free, giving it life and form, and brought it into the mortal realm. A ball of Darkness hovered in the air, a human form curled within. It shattered, and the form fell to the floor. Kaede Kanade stood shocked as a specter from her past got to her feet.

"_**Empty creature from Kaede risen, to you the name of Karidé shall be given.**_"

The liberated Darkness of Kaede K.'s Heart gave a fanged grin as she looked upon her former host.

"I'll make the most of this new chance to devour my Light half" she said.

Then the Dark Voice reached through reality itself, taking a being long destroyed and giving it new life, restoring its power. Aqua gasped as a terribly familiar figure set foot upon the rocky ground.

"_**Empty creature from Ventus risen, to you the name Vanitas is returned.**_"

Vanitas grinned evilly. "Looking forward to another chance to raise some Hell" he said.

The Dark Voice turned his head to the side. "_**Will this do, my newest ally?**_"

"Yes" an old man's gravelly voice replied. "Yes, this will do nicely, partner."

Everyone turned to look, and saw a familiar old man flanked by several dark-robed figures, an evil glint in his golden eyes and a wicked-looking Keyblade in his hand.

"Master Xehanort" King Mickey growled. "You've allied with this monster?"

"He and I share the same goals, to a certain point" Xehanort replied. "Until that point arrives, we will assist each other in our respective endeavors."

"All worlds consumed by Darkness…" Xehanort's Heartless said. "It is a beautiful idea."

"The cold Nothingness of eternity…" Xemnas spoke up.

"The triumph of Darkness over all of time…" Young Xehanort added.

"And the chance to have lots of fights and kill lots of goody-goodies" Braig finished. "Sounds like my idea of a good time."

The Dark Voice turned his attention to the heroes. "_**Enjoy what time you have. Your days are numbered; the moment of my ascension shall soon be at hand.**_"

Then, a pillar of Darkness erupted from him, engulfing him and his Generals, along with the two revived Unversed Lords. At the same time, Xehanort and his followers vanished in a burst of dark light. When it all faded, the normal daylight returned (well, accepting the cloud cover), and everyone was left standing in shock.

"Things just got more complicated…" Teana said.

**-_SCENE BREAK_-**

**Same Day – 7:30 PM**

Upon returning to the city, the information retrieved was immediately sent to all coalition leaders. The coalition's top minds quickly threw themselves into brainstorming, trying to figure out what to do.

It was determined that Alicia had indeed managed to create for herself an entirely new body from Fate's, and had also forged a psychic and empathic link between herself, Fate, and Laicixa. Furthermore, the ability to age-shift was turned from an externally-applied spell on Fate into an ingrained ability shared by all three; Laicixa still preferred her natural/child form, Fate was a little more comfortable with her normal/adult form, and Alicia was equally at ease in both. The 'Testarossa Triplets' had been spending all their time with each other and with their mother.

Precia was rather upset upon discovering that, since her new body came from Fate, Alicia's back bore the same whip-scars as Fate's did.

Construction was already begun for a Bardiche-type Device for Alicia, to be named Lochaber. Once completed, she would gift it with a Keyblade form much like Bardiche's, so that Fate could have the Sign of Innocence back.

"Today was the craziest day I've had in a long, long time" Arf sighed as she lounged on a couch.

"You have no idea" Precia replied from a nearby chair. "Getting Alicia back, learning that her Heart – her _soul_ – was inside Fate the whole time, learning what Ruin really is…"

"A little girl who came from Fate, who happens to be pure evil…"

Precia smirked a little. "Yes, I don't think she'll be set on the right path by a scolding and spanking."

Arf chuckled. "Definitely not the latter, if she's anything like Fate."

"Oh?" Precia turned to her. "What makes you say that?" A look of guilt crossed her face. "Did… she do something to warrant corporal punishment, and it made her flash back to what… to what I did to her?"

Arf shook her head. "Nah. The opposite, actually. She _likes_ it."

Precia's eyes went wide. "Uh-What?"

Arf looked a tad uncomfortable. "Yeah, it turns out that Fate _enjoys_ that sort of thing. She, Nanoha, and Yūno found this out when they were 'messing around' at 14. …Fate was apparently just as surprised as the other two to discover that a light spanking turned her on." Arf blushed lightly. "Though they were quick to… capitalize on that discovery…"

Precia felt a combination of blushing and weirded out at hearing about one of her daughter's kinks.

"She likes a little roleplay, too, which is good 'cause Hayate _loves_ to dress her up. This one time-"

"Okay, that's enough! Please, I don't want to hear about my little girl's sex life!"

'Well, maybe I'm a _little_ curious…' she thought. 'But not _that_ curious!'

**-_SCENE BREAK_-**

**Same Time, Different Place**

"So Fate's sister's Heart was inside her all this time…" Sora said. "It's kinda hard to believe."

"Things related to Keyblades and Hearts are often pretty unbelievable" Aqua replied.

Sora chuckled. "Don't I know it. …Hey, Aqua?"

"Hm?"

"So, you fell into the Realm of Darkness. And Terra got his body stolen by Xehanort. What… happened to Ventus?"

Aqua's expression saddened, as she debated whether or not to tell him. Finally, she decided.

"Around the time you were born, Sora, Master Xehanort ripped Ventus' Heart's Darkness out of him. The process was so dramatic, that it left Ven's heart damaged, fractured. He was dying as a result. Xehanort… grew up on Destiny Islands. He decided to let Ven die there. But, when he brought Ven there, your newborn Heart made contact with his. Your Heart donated a portion of itself to repair Ven's Heart, forging a link between you two. …Four years after that, Ventus went up against Vanitas, his darkness. In a battle in the center of his Heart, he destroyed the χ-Blade that Vanitas had formed, slaying Vanitas but badly damaging his own Heart in the process."

"What… happened to his Heart?"

Aqua smiled sadly. "It followed the one link it had to this realm: the link it had with your Heart. Sora… For 11 years, Ventus' Heart has slept within you, just as Alicia's slept within Fate."

Sora gasped. "Ven's… Ventus' Heart is inside me?"

She nodded. "Your Nobody, Roxas, had Ven's appearance and voice because of it."

"I see…" the boy looked pensive. "So… Should we get him out? Like what was done for Nyū and Alicia?"

Aqua frowned. "We can't. Ven's Heart hasn't fully healed yet. It's still too damaged to survive outside your body. Until his Heart has fully healed, I'm afraid you'll have to carry him around for a while longer."

"…Okay. I'll keep him safe for you, Aqua."

She smiled. "Thank you, Sora."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Chapter: Allies Arrive


	5. Allies

Thanks to author Third Fang for coming up with one hell of a jutsu.

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Radiant Garden – Two Days After Previous Chapter**

The groups entered another short period of peace and adjustment, as no further enemy attacks took place after the revelations regarding just who they were up against. A detailed scan confirmed that Alicia's new body was stable, and construction was proceeding smoothly on her Intelligent Device, a 'brother' Device to Bardiche and Voulge, to be named Lochaber. She was spending whatever free time she had with her sisters, getting to know them better… whenever she wasn't being excessively hugged and cuddled by their overjoyed mother, that is; Precia was proud to be the mother of three beautiful girls.

Sora, Riku, Mickey, and Yen-Sid had told about how the Mark of Mastery exam had gone pear-shaped with Xehanort's interference, and how Riku had earned the rank of Keyblade Master while Sora – who was too busy being comatose – missed out. A bright side to recent events was that Xehanort's alliance with the Dark Voice meant that the Keybladers could devote their all to assisting the coalition against a common foe. Yesterday, Kairi had been brought to the group, being taken as Aqua's student, and the two had quickly dived head-first into intensive Keyblade training.

"_So that thing that we saw in Zeratul's vision is our main enemy, huh?_" Comm. Raynor asked over vid-comm.

"Yeah" Teana replied. "The Dark Voice, the fallen Xel'Naga, is leader of the bad guys. And now we know what he's planning…"

"_The fall of everything everywhere to Darkness. And he's got a buncha strong allies helping him do it._"

"How're things going in your end?"

"_The Zerg seem to be calmin' down a bit, going to ground. But now I'm pretty sure that's just because the Dark Voice is calling them elsewhere, and havin' 'em build up their numbers. The two broods Kerrigan's managed to gain control of are helpin' us best they can, mainly against Mengsk's forces; that old bastard's turtling up for the moment, consolidating defenses around the Dominion's core worlds and restricting them to hit-and-run raids against our forces rather than all-out assaults. I guess seein' a Sangheili assault carrier shred four of his battlecruisers by itself scared him._"

"How's Valerian doin'?"

"_Junior's been helpin' us on the down-low against his pops, and Warfield's taggin' along to help him in that. I think Mengsk is startin' to figure out his heir's turned against him, though_."

"And the Tal'darim?"

"_Ever since we decapitated their leadership at that Xel'Naga naval base, they haven't been causin' too much trouble. They'll pop their heads out now & then, stir up a little trouble, and then we or the mainstream Protoss will chase 'em off again. They're more of an annoyance than a threat at this point._"

"Yeah well, keep an eye out for them. The Dark Voice might decide to recruit them. If they figure out he is – or rather, was – a Xel'Naga…"

"_They'll be swift converts, and we'll have a bunch of fanatical zealots wielding Dark powers against us._"

"Right" She sighed. "Listen, I've gotta get going. It's my turn for patrol duty soon. See ya, Commander."

"_Take care, Lanstar. We'll let ya know if anythin' you need to know comes up. Raynor out._"

Teana closed the holoscreen and walked off. On her way out, she encountered Ishtar, the young Elvaan sitting by herself, brooding.

"He was right there" Ishtar said. "Duran, the being who corrupted Dragovich, was right there in front of me. And I couldn't do a damned thing. The second that 'Dark Voice' entity showed up, I was paralyzed with pure, irrational terror. I had the chance to avenge Claudia and the twins… and I couldn't."

"He's a daemon lord" Teana replied. "It's a miracle that none of us lost our minds just from being so close to him. _None_ of us were able to work up the courage to try attacking them."

"When I got my powers, when I became a… Prime… I acquired a full immunity to enemy magic, Force, and _ki _attacks. So why was I hit just as hard as everyone else by whatever that… _thing_ did?-!"

"That wasn't any of those three types of power. It was… I don't know what the hell it was, but it was something else; something… older, darker, more… primordial. It was…"

"The instinctual base response of a sane mortal being in proximity to a greater daemon?" Marie chimed in as she sat beside Teana. "I'm a _Warhammer 40K _fan. That kinda stuff happens when dealing with high-level dark entities. I'm surprised none of us started bleeding from the eyes and ears."

"Subaru says the 7-Tails got really riled up once it sensed the Dark Voice" Teana said. "And Shion says that Khan got his hackles up, too."

"They were encountering an entity as powerful as their progenitor" Ishtar replied. "I'm not surprised that it got them going."

They talked for a little more before Teana had to leave and start her patrol. She hopped aboard a Sangheili Type-32 "Ghost" RAV and rode out, the armed hover-sled scooting along through the rock formations just outside the city. Two more Ghosts, piloted by a Sangheili Major and a PLF marine, moved in formation with her. They began their circuit of the badlands north of the city, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. But things looked to be as quiet as a tomb.

"_Patrol Team Alpha, Recon Drone Echo-47 has detected an abnormality in the eastern edge of your patrol sector. Please investigate._"

"Copy, Command" Teana replied. "Patrol Team Alpha moving to investigate."

The three Ghosts moved out, nearing the assigned location. They got close, finding nothing… and Teana barely avoided being skewered through the head by a thrown lance. She threw her Ghost into reverse and looked at where the weapon had come from, and spotted a tall, thin, white and blue entity with a vaguely draconic look to it: a Dragoon. And there were more of them.

"Patrol Team Alpha to Command, we have Nobodies in the northeast zone, and they're hostile!"

The Nobodies went on the attack, hordes of white creatures moving in ways humanoids shouldn't be able to, and in return the three Ghosts opened fire, rapid-fire plasma cannons tearing into the empty creatures. About a minute later, the rest of Gamma Team arrived, Marie using a Spartan Laser to take down a Berserker. Unversed began appearing alongside the Nobodies, and the heroes were briefly on the defensive, but then Sigma Team arrived to reinforce them, helping push the hostiles back.

"Dimensional translocations detected in the area" Charon reported.

Within minutes of that statement, 'Demons' began to appear – scores of Type-Gs, led by Type-Es, with a few Type-Ds and Type-Fs flying overhead. They joined the fight, and the thirteen heroines stood ready to meet them.

Kaede F. leapt amongst a pack of Unversed, _Tsubaki no Mai _bone-blades in hand, and started cutting them down; a Flood bisected, a Scrapper impaled, an Axe Flapper de-winged. Asa picked a spot with a good view of the battlefield and started picking Type-Gs and Type-Ds off with _Sagitta Magica _and her Lancer rifle, relying on her high-strength shield spells to protect herself. Mai had her two plasma swords out, hacking and slashing at Nobodies and Demons, tossing out the occasional _Raiton _technique. Mana, tapping into her recently-discovered elemental affinity, used _Suiton: Suigadan _to take down a pack of Dusks, and then brought a few Type-Es down with her cyborg super strength.

Marie fired a charged Dark Beam shot, taking out a Dragoon, and then used regular shots to take out Dusks and Creepers. Kaede K. used her vectors and her shotgun to deal with Type-Gs and Type-Es, and Subaru rolled about the battlefield while dealing crushingly powerful blows. Sarah killed a Bruiser with a _Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku_, and then made a chakra-powered leap up amongst the enemy flyers, drawing her Gravity Hammer. At the peak of her jump, she swung down at a Type-F directly below her, the gravitic pulse propelling her up and forward, allowing her to use her momentum in a horizontal swing that took out two Type-Ds. As she fell and neared the ground, she swung down to kill a Berserker, which launched her a bit further, allowing her to land feet-first on a Creeper, crushing it. Before the Dusks surrounding her could react, she made a wide swing with her grav-hammer, killing two of them, and then lashed out with a kick to the third's face.

"Alert" Cross Mirage said. "Multiple dimensional translocations detected. Unknown origin. Multiple high-level individuals detected. They are making for this location."

"Damn it" Teana spat. "Alright, brace yourselves, girls! Incoming contacts, high level, unknown classification! With our luck, we can assume they're hostile! Keep an eye out for them while you're taking out these foot soldiers!"

The group continued to fight even as they kept an eye out for whatever was coming. However, more and more enemies kept appearing, forcing them to fight harder. Ahsoka's lightsabers were a constant blur of green, and she'd activated her Artifact, the extra blades helping her keep the enemies at bay. Aqua and Teana were fighting back-to-back, taking down any Demons or Unversed that came in range. Shion and Ginga were teamed up as well, the former's energy blade and the latter's power-fist slashing & smashing anything that they could get close to.

The horde of hostiles continued to press the attack, while Mirage and Charon reported the unidentified contacts growing ever closer. Marie was firing Annihilator Beam shots nonstop, her rate of kills just barely outpacing the spawning rate of the enemies attacking her. The two Kaedes were using bone-blades and vectors to slice and stab Heartless by the handful, but the damn things just kept coming. Subaru called up a portion of the 7-Tails' power, striking harder and faster than before, keeping them at bay as best she could. Mana took out a pack of Shadows with a frag grenade, and then dealt a punch that killed a Dancer.

Sarah cast a _Fūton: Shinkūha_, cutting down a pack of Type-Es, and then smashed a Large Body in the face with her gravity hammer. The blade on the back of her weapon's head decapitated a Dusk, and a chakra-supercharged punch overcame a Buckle Bruiser's defense and sent it tumbling. Then, however, she finally noticed that she had been cut off from the others; she could see them, but a significant number of Heartless were between her and them. She was about to make a charge through them to link up with the others, when she noticed a Stealth Sneak leaping high, coming down at her from above. She braced herself; even if she dealt a fatal blow, gravity would carry the heavy thing down on top of her before it dispelled. Things seemed to move in slow-motion as the beast came down at her, claws bared…

"DYNAMIC ENTRYYYY!-!-!"

(MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden _OST 1 – "_Shippūden_" (Track 1))

…and then, suddenly, a green blur smashed into it from the side, sending it careening off course. When a horde of smaller Heartless leapt at Sarah from all sides, the blur attacked again:

"_Konoha Dai-Senpū_!"

When Sarah opened her eyes, the figure responsible for saving her landed in front of her, facing down the enemy, one arm behind his back and the other in a "Bring it!" gesture. Her eyes widened as she recognized him, and realized who the 'unknown high-level contacts' were.

"Konoha's Magnificent Green Beast!" the man introduced himself with a sparkling grin. "Might Guy has arrived!"

At the same time, Teana hacked and slashed through the Demons that half-surrounded her, when a blur of motion, crackling with electric-blue Lightning chakra, zipped through them, cutting most of them down. The blur appeared in front of her, hand crackling with a _Raikiri_, his left eye exposed. Teana gasped.

"Kakashi-san?-!"

Meanwhile, Subaru fought her way through scores of Demons and Unversed, but didn't notice until the last moment as an unbound Iron Imprisoner's flaming hammer was coming down at her. Just before it could hit, however, she was pulled out of the way by a lightning-fast figure, a split-second before the ground where she'd been standing was crushed and scorched. Subaru's eyes were still shut from bracing herself, but she could feel herself being held "bridal style". She looked up, and the first thing she saw was a pair of Sage Mode eyes. She briefly thought Nanoha had saved her, but then she noticed something else.

'Takamachi doesn't have spiky blond hair…'

She finally got a good look at her rescuer, and she gasped.

"You okay?" the boy asked.

Subaru nodded. At this point, everyone else caught sight of the unexpected reinforcements. Teana looked for Subaru, and then a smile lit up her face as she saw who'd saved her girlfriend:

"Naruto!"

"Yo!" the boy grinned. "Sorry we're late!"

"We had just beaten Madara when these things attacked" Kakashi said. "We fought them off and tracked them here. Running into you girls here is an unexpected surprise. …It seems your group's grown since last time."

As Naruto put Subaru down, he had a good look at her, also sensing her chakra. He smiled.

"You're the 7-Tailed Wolf's host, aren't you?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm Subaru."

"Teana-san mentioned you a couple times"

She grinned. "We're together. I'm the _seme_."

Suddenly, Naruto moved, catching the Iron Imprisoner's hammer. He scowled.

"It's rude to interrupt" he said, and then dashed in and landed a Sage-enhanced punch to the large Unversed's chest, knocking it back and leaving a huge dent in its frontal armor. He followed up with a _Rasengan _to the 'face', and the titan toppled over backward, dissolving into particles of Darkness.

A little ways away, a pack of demons and Nobodies were rapidly being carved to pieces by a whirling dervish of slashing swords. The figure responsible leapt high, cutting several Type-Ds out of the sky, and landed amongst the group, swords gripped in various places.

"The big damn heroes, that be we! The Konoha Crew and Killer Bee!"

"The others are dealing with another force of these things over where we arrived in this realm" Might Guy said. "We four will help you girls here."

Looking out at the still-huge horde of hostiles, Marie spoke up. "Guys, keep them busy for a minute! Sarah & I have something we wanna try out, but it takes a bit to get ready!"

As the two sisters took position next to each other and began charging power, the others got to work. The presence of four extra S-Rankers helped tip the odds a bit, but the enemies kept coming. Guy blitzed through their numbers, culling their ranks with speed and power. Kakashi, summoning the Executioner's Blade, used the massive sword to bisect four Dusks and a Shadow in one wide swing. Naruto was untouchable, and in Sage Mode each simple punch or kick was instantly fatal to whatever dark creature it hit. Bee leapt about, using punishing blows and precise strikes to down Demons and Unversed.

Naruto turned and looked as he felt two chakra signatures rapidly growing, and saw the Swanson sisters side by side, their _ki _auras flaring; a mass of Wind chakra was gathering in Sarah's right hand, and an equally-powerful portion of Fire chakra in Marie's left. He felt as their chakra began to synchronize, and he grinned.

"A combination jutsu, huh?" he muttered, while offhandedly punching a Type-E in the face over his shoulder, without looking.

After a little while longer, Sarah sent a quick telepathic message: 'Everyone, clear the way! This is gonna be _big_!'

Sensing the very large amount of chakra the two were channeling, everyone wisely obeyed, making it so there was nothing between the sisters and the advancing horde of enemies. The six kids of Theta Team arrived just in time, standing back to witness what was about to happen. Sarah and Marie grinned at each other, and then…

"Fire & Wind…"

"Ultimate Collaboration…"

They thrusted their chakra-containing palms forward together at the same time, and the contained energies erupted:

"_FIRESTORM!-!-!_"

A huge horizontal blazing twister formed and tore its way forward, decimating the small army in moments, incinerating the dark creatures that got in its way and sucking in those within about 10 meters of its edges. The roaring tornado of flame, nearly white-hot, glassed the earth in contact with it, as dozens of Unversed, Nobodies, and Demons were sucked up into the hellish conflagration and incinerated. The onlookers watched in awe at the scene of perfectly-controlled devastation.

"Holy crap…" Asa breathed out, able to feel the temperature jump a few degrees even from where she was standing.

After a while, the sisters cut the attack off. The whirling flames dissipated, revealing a scene of ruination. The ground was cracked and glassed, and there was nothing left of the countless enemies, who had been incinerated. Only a handful of stunned survivors, too far away from the attack to be sucked in, populated the area at a distance on either side of the black burnt path. They promptly vanished, retreating. Sarah and Marie stood, panting, and smiled at each other. They bumped fists.

"That was…" Teana said, trying to sound calm and impassive "c-certainly impressive…"

"To say the least…" Kakashi replied.

"S-So… awesome…" Erika stammered from atop the rock she and Erio had watched the show from. She looked over at the also-stunned other teams. "…I-Is that Naruto down there?"

Naruto disengaged his Sage Mode as the two sisters walked up. "I'd say that safely counts as 'awesome' in the old sense of the word" he said. "As in, inspiring awe." He looked up at the rocks. "Your little sis agrees with me, I think."

Sarah & Marie looked up, and sure enough there was Theta Team. The blonde waved them over, and they chakra-leapt down to join the group. Laicixa eyed the large scar of blackened glass with approval.

"So _that's_ what you two have been up to…" Teana said.

Sarah looked out at the scar on the earth. "Not bad for a field test, eh?" she quipped.

"The others are here" Killer Bee said, pointing his thumb over at the approaching group.

"Whoa~!" Kiba said. "What did _this_?"

"Marie and her sister came up with a combo jutsu" Naruto replied. "A _big_ one."

Teana smiled as she looked out at her old friends from Konoha… but something was off.

"Where's Neji?" she asked.

At this, several of the Konoha group looked downtrodden and morose.

"We'll explain everything at your base" Kakashi said solemnly.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**That Night**

Teana sat alone, looking up at the stars. She could still hardly believe all that had happened, shown to her and everyone else via the scrying spell-acquired footage (with music!), on the shinobi world after her departure. The Five-Kagé Conference, the Moon's Eye Plan, Kabuto's resurfacing, Sasuke's full descent to darkness, the fight against Danzō (including the debut of the forbidden Sharingan technique _Izanagi_), the brief tussle with Team 7, Konan's death, the training aboard Kumogakure's island, the outbreak of the Fourth Great War, Naruto's taming of the _Kyūbi_, the reveal regarding his mother (including the heart-breaking extended flashback), Kisame's final fight, the _Edo Tensei_ army, the reveal of the _real_ Madara Uchiha, the 9-Tails voluntarily becoming a good guy, the fight against the revived _Jinchūriki_, and the reveal of the Tailed Beasts' names (Mariko's reaction to the 9-Tails' name was… interesting).

And… the reveal of the identity of 'Tobi', the man who'd murdered Teana's family and made Pain kill her brother. She could still barely believe it. Obito Uchiha, the pure-hearted "proto-Naruto" who'd sacrificed himself for Kakashi's sake, had survived and fallen to Darkness so thoroughly as to forsake his very identity, and become one of the worst monsters to ever curse the shinobi world with his presence. Itachi's gambit, and the defeat of Kabuto. The 'resurrection' of Orochimaru. The rebirth of the _Jūbi _(the Dark Voice had been lying and/or full of himself; strong as he was, there was _no way_ he compared to that… _**thing**_ in terms of power level. Marie called it "the Naruto-verse's equivalent of a Chaos God"). The fight that followed, Neji's heroic death, and the other ensuing events.

So many things taken place, so many people dead… It was hard for the girl to wrap her head around, just a little.

"Teana-san?"

She turned to look, as Kakashi sat down at her side.

"It's a lot to take in all at once, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah… You guys all saw our footage while we were watching yours, right?"

He nodded. "The Dark Voice, Xehanort, the Heartless… And you've made so many friends along with your enemies. …I came to find you because, after the dust had settled, we found and raided Obi… Tobi's storehouse. He… He kept the preserved eyes of deceased Uchiha in there, among other things. …Teana… We found something I think you should know about."

He called up a holoscreen in front of Teana… who gasped as she saw who was in the recorded message.

"_Hello, little sister_" Tiida Lanstar said. "_If you are watching this particular message, then I am dead, and you have awakened your Sharingan and your Mangekyō. …Teana, there's something I need to tell you about. And something I'd like to leave to you…_"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Two Days Later – 9:30 AM**

Teana winced and shielded her eyes as she stepped out into the morning sun.

"You okay, Tia?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, my eyes are just… still a little sensitive, that's all. So what did you want to tell us, sir?"

Colonel Holland straightened up. "We just discovered something big. We haven't made proper contact yet, but… There's _another_ multi-dimensional coalition running around the realms."

The groups' jaws dropped. "M-More of us?" Mai asked.

"So far, we've only been able to identify one of this other coalition's member states – a space-faring human faction called the Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations. They have more, though. We'll keep trying to make contact. I'll let you know if we succeed."

"So we might have a bunch more allies soon…" Shion said. "Cool."

"In other news, we have a new assignment for you girls – a new world you're going to be sent to, in order to forge alliances with the individuals there. There are several magically-powerful individuals on this new world, and we have reason to believe that the Dark Voice may have this world in his sights; two good reasons to send you girls there."

"Any further details, sir?" Teana asked.

"The trans-dimensional slipspace time-dislocation phenomenon is going to activate when you girls go there; you'll essentially be going back in time."

"So we'll… be separated from everyone else when this happens" Shion said.

"Well, others will likely choose to follow you at points. In any case, we've managed to reverse-engineer the spell that Disney Castle's mages came up with that allows individuals to undergo detailed long-term transformations to fit in with the locals, like Sora and his group did in a handful of the places they've been. You girls will be subjected to it, though you'll be able to shift forms whenever you desire."

"Any other intel, sir?"

"Just that the dominant sapient inhabitants are quadrupeds, and the planet is called Equestria…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Next Day**

Goodbyes were said, plans were made, and everything was made ready. Now, the seven girls of Gamma Team stood in the middle of an intricate rune carved into the ground.

"All right now, is everybody ready?" Merlin asked.

"We're good to go, sir" Teana replied.

"Well then, let's get this started."

The old mage began waving his wand, focusing his magical energies. Yen-Sid soon joined in, adding his powers. Teana, Shion, Kaede, Marie, Mai, Ahsoka, and Sarah closed their eyes as the rune began to glow brightly, and magic crawled across their bodies.

"Reinforcements will be showing up soon, girls" Holland shouted over the thrumming of mana. "In the meantime, get settled in, get acquainted with the locals, and be ready for anything!"

The girls were then engulfed in a pillar of blinding light that shot up into the heavens. When it faded, they were gone.

In another world, Celestia stirred in her sleep. Something was coming that would shake the very foundations of her world…

**-**_**BOOK 14 END**_**-**

And there we have it. Tune in for Book 15: Equestria Girls.

You'll notice I was deliberately vague regarding the events on Naruto's world. This was a necessity, due to things obviously having not wrapped up yet in canon. If anyone shown here to be alive ends up dying in canon, I'll… think of something.

Until the next book!


End file.
